Cooke Foundation recently awarded a grant to a UH initiative that works to restore Hawaiʻi’s surrounding coral reefs.

The “Fish Pono: Save Our Reefs” program aims to stem the tide of coral degradation caused by coastal pollution and ocean warming by saving fishes that save corals. Founded by like-minded ocean lovers, scientists, water enthusiasts and fishermen, Fish Pono is a public education campaign with the vision of bringing awareness to the importance of replenishing herbivore fish populations to foster healthy coral reefs, which are often referred to as “the rainforests of the sea.”

Parrotfishes (uhu), surgeonfishes (kala) and other herbivorous fish remove seaweeds on reefs that would otherwise smother corals. Unfortunately, these living lawnmowers are overfished in many locations around Hawaiʻi, according to Mark Hixon, professor and Hsiao Endowed Chair of Marine Biology in the UH Mānoa School of Life Sciences.

The mixed-media messaging campaign includes its website, television and radio public service announcements, and a presence at public meetings with the Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources as it concerns these ecologically important fishes.

According to Fish Pono ambassador and UH Mānoa alumnus Randy Kosaki of the NOAA Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, scientists have found that parrotfishes and surgeonfishes are particularly overfished and are at less than 5% of their original herbivore fish population, especially around Oʻahu. Fish Pono wants to reverse this decline.

Describing herbivores as the lawnmowers of the sea, Fish Pono founders say these herbivores not only clean our reefs, allowing corals to flourish, but uhu also produce the sand that replenishes our beaches.

“Herbivores are literally the saviors of our reefs,” Hixon said.

 

Photo credit: University of Hawaiʻi