Maui Nui Marine Resource Council to host free webinar on replenishing Hawaiʻi’s reef fish

The Maui Nui Marine Resource Council will host a free online webinar Nov. 5 on how fisheries replenishment areas can rebuild reef fish populations and sustain fishing in Hawaiʻi.

The Know Your Ocean webinar begins at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom. Registration is free.

Three authors of the newly released booklet “The Importance of Fisheries Replenishment Areas in Hawaiʻi” will present its findings and take questions from attendees, according to the council. The speakers are:

• Alan Friedlander, retired chief scientist of National Geographic Pristine Seas and affiliated with the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
• Mark Hixon, the Hsiao Endowed Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
• Charles Birkeland, an affiliate of the Marine Biology Graduate Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

The 2026 booklet updates a 2001 publication with 25 years of additional research, Hawaiian traditional management practices and lessons from communities across the islands, the council said. Friedlander, Birkeland, Hixon, Eric Conklin, Alison Green and John Starmer wrote it.

Fisheries replenishment areas, sometimes called “fish rest areas,” limit or prohibit fishing so fish have time to grow and reproduce, according to the council. Depending on their protections and design, the areas can help rebuild fish populations. Some adult fish move into nearby fishing grounds, and currents carry eggs and larvae to other reefs, the council said.

The booklet examines Kahekili, Kahoʻolawe and West Hawaiʻi, and it looks at the roles of community stewardship, habitat protection and long-term management. It also notes that healthy fisheries depend on healthy watersheds, reflecting the connection between mauka (toward the mountains) and makai (toward the sea).

Starmer, the council’s science director, said the approach builds on Hawaiian practice.

“This is a return to something Hawaiians practiced for centuries through kapu and konohiki,” Starmer said. Kahekili has recovered and that the authors wrote the updated edition so fishers, communities and decision-makers would have the evidence in one place, he said.

The council said healthy fisheries help feed families, sustain cultural practices and support local livelihoods. It also said algae-eating fish play a role in keeping coral reefs healthy.

The booklet is available free online. The Hawaiʻi Community Foundation’s Holomua Marine Initiative Papio Grant program and the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council funded it.

The Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is a Maui-based nonprofit that works to protect and restore marine ecosystems in Maui Nui through science, community action and education. More information is available at mauireefs.org.

Event details

• What: Know Your Ocean webinar on replenishing Hawaiʻi’s reef fish
• When: 5:30 p.m. Nov. 5
• Where: Zoom
• Cost: Free
• Register: Zoom registration