Williams, I.

Kahekili Herbivore Fishery Management Area: Interim monitoring results

2013

NOAA - PIFSC

2

PIFSC Internal Report IR-13-008

"In response to concerns about the long-term decline of local coral reefs, the state of Hawaii created the Kahekili Herbivore Fishery Management Area (KHFMA) along an approximately 2-mile stretch of coastline in Ka'anapali, West Maui (see picture right). The KHFMA, which was established in July 2009, involves a form of management that is unique within Hawaii, namely protection of coral reef herbivores (i.e., surgeonfishes, parrotfishes, chubs, and sea urchins), which may not be killed, injured, or harvested within the FMA boundaries. The goal of the KHFMA is to restore natural grazing processes and ultimately, therefore, to increase the local reef's ability to resist and recover from excessive algal growth that is detrimental to corals. The KHFMA does not in any way restrict fishing of other types of finfish or invertebrates. To further promote grazing by local fish stocks, feeding of fishes, other than for legal fishing, is also banned within the KHFMA."

FY2010 CRCP Project ID 20482; Project Title: Scientific Support for Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area, Maui; Principal Investigator: Ivor Williams