Hawaii nonprofit hauls off a million pounds of ocean trash
They work where no humans are allowed, but where human trash accumulates by the tons.
Four years ago, James Morioka and Kevin O’Brien launched a nonprofit to keep the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands free of debris. This year, during a 19-day period, they removed 70,000 pounds of trash from Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), where Wisdom, the famed 74-year-old albatross, recently laid another egg. During their latest operation, which ended in October, they achieved a milestone, hauling off their millionth pound of trash, most of it derelict fishing gear.
Kuaihelani means “backbone of the gods” in Hawaiian. The atoll is one of dozens of tiny islands and shoals that make up the largest marine conservation area in the world. At 583,000-square-miles, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is bigger than the entire U.S. West Coast.
“It’s one of the most incredible places on the planet; Kevin and I really care about it. We want to take care of Papahānaumokuākea1 for Hawaii,” said James Morioka, executive director of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project (PMDP).
The nonprofit works exclusively in the monument. Both commercial and recreational fishing are prohibited, yet trash from thousands of miles away washes up on its shores.
They’ve cut loose entangled green sea turtles, endangered Hawaiian monk seals and seabirds. They’ve removed nets smothering coral, and studies have shown reefs rebounding after they do so.
“If you love something, it’s really easy to protect it. PMDP is a message of hope. We’re bringing in a lot of conservationists and stewards. A million pounds of marine debris is not data that can be refuted. It’s a tangible difference. We’re working with our hands. And we’re developing people who can take this skillset anywhere in the world.”
— James Morioka, executive director of PMDP
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched cleanup efforts in the monument in 1996. A funding shortfall caused a pause before the pandemic.
Morioka and O’Brien, employees at NOAA who were already working on marine debris removal, couldn’t see the place abandoned to trash. They left their jobs to form the nonprofit.
Enter the fabulous Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which funneled money to their efforts through NOAA.
PMDP launched in 2020. Grants flowed in from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (via NOAA) with matching funds from philanthropists Mark and Lynne Benioff,2 who call Hawaii home. In total, these entities put together $12 million to fund cleanups through 2026. PMDP also survives on individual contributions.
Derelict fishing gear is on the rise
I grew up on Oahu and don’t remember seeing so much trash. Even on a recent visit to Maui, the beaches and reefs seemed pristine.
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are particularly susceptible to this type of debris for several reasons, said Morioka.
These islands are much older than the main Hawaiian Islands to the south. Consequently, they are flatter and their reefs are wider, creating vast shallow shelves where plastic trash and fishing line easily accumulate.
The islands are located in the center3 of the North Pacific Gyre, an ocean current that funnels trash from as far away as Asia. The main Hawaiian Islands are a little south of this convergence, sparing them some trash.
Finally, a major factor: Fishing nets are much cheaper now than they’ve ever been. It’s more cost-effective to throw commercial line overboard than to repair and reuse it. Moreover, it can cost a fisherman hundreds of dollars to legally dispose of a net. 🤢
Note: Hawaii’s commercial fleets fish using long-line gear, which PMDP rarely encounters.
Solutions should include economic incentives
Clearly, the problem calls for international cooperation. In addition to hauling off fishing gear, economic incentives directed in the right places could remove disposal fees or even pay fishermen for their unwanted gear, to prevent dumping. Ghost nets are a worldwide problem for ocean life.
“There’s no regulations in and out of ports about weighing your gear,” Morioka said. “If there was a program that incentivized the return of these nets, and it would be easier to get paid than to throw them overboard, that would be a solution.”
The United Nations, G20 and G7 have attempted to tackle the problem for several decades. Here are a few headlines that show how many minds are on the issue:
China Launches Three-Year Campaign Against Ocean Litter
Tackling marine litter through port reception facilities (International Maritime Organization)
G20 Report on Actions Against Ocean Litter
ASEAN Regional Action Plan for Combatting Marine Debris
Facing treacherous terrain out in the middle of nowhere, a committed team gets to work
In case anyone thinks this resembles a Girls Scouts beach cleanup, not so fast. Kuaihelani is 1,480 miles from the main Hawaiian Islands. The crew and their 19-foot inflatable Zodiacs are flown in. Free divers are tugged through narrow channels surveying reefs for debris. Each boat is limited to carrying 4,000 pounds. At times, the nets are so big, workers cut them into 200-pound chunks and carry them down the beach.
“We work to get marine debris out of really difficult places,” Morioka said.
Securing a job with PMDP is highly competitive. The work requires a big time commitment away from family and friends. For every eight weeks in the field, the crew takes eight weeks of safety training. They prepare by learning everything from how to free an entangled diver, to holding a boat in whitewash and shore break, to industrial crane operation safety.
Morioka has two daughters at home.
“It’s hard to be away, but it’s so satisfying. The one thing we know we can do, especially with the skill sets we’ve developed, is to preemptively remove these entanglement hazards. That’s the one thing we know we can do, and that’s what we’ve decided to dedicate our lives to doing.”
Papahānaumokuākea: A Sacred Name, A Sacred Place
Papahānaumoku is a mother figure personified by the earth and Wākea is a father figure personified in the expansive sky; the two are honored and highly recognized ancestors of Native Hawaiian people. Their union resulted in the creation, or birthing, of the entire Hawaiian archipelago—thus the naming of the monument is to honor and preserve these names, to strengthen Hawaii’s cultural foundation and to ground Hawaiians to an important part of their history.
Taken apart, “Papa” (earth mother), “hānau” (birth), “moku” (small island or large land division), and “ākea” (wide) bespeak a fertile woman giving birth to a wide stretch of islands beneath a benevolent sky. Taken as one long name, Papahānaumokuākea can be seen as a symbol of hope and regeneration for the Kūpuna Islands and the main Hawaiian Islands.
Earth Hope is not affiliated with PMDP. Keep scrolling ⬇️ for more news!
Wait … there’s more:
Green sea turtles nest where volunteers pulled up invasive grass for 20 years
In related news, this summer, for the first time in recorded history, a green sea turtle nest was discovered on Kaho’olawe, the smallest of the main Hawaiian Islands. Throughout the summer, more nests were discovered. At the end of the summer, volunteers counted eggshells and found high hatching rates. Green sea turtles are found only in Hawaii and listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are known as honu in Hawaii.
Kaho’olawe is an uninhabited island seven miles from Maui. Like Kuaihelani, it was used by the U.S. military for many decades. Fresh water is sparse, so human habitation has always been limited. The U.S. Navy transferred the island to the State of Hawaii in 1994. Human visitors are limited to volunteers who restore native plants.
Kaho’olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) reported the news in their summer newsletter:
“The replacement of invasive bufflegrass with the native ‘aki‘aki grass, undoubtedly made the area more suitable for nesting honu. Buffelgrass forms mats that would be difficult for a honu to dig through. The native ‘aki‘aki grass grows more sparsely and honu can easily dig their nest chambers which are usually between 50 and 100cm deep.”
Related news: Five tons of marine debris airlifted from Kaho’olawe destined for recycling
Where do humans belong?
In recent weeks, when headlines lit up with the news that 74-year-old Wisdom had found a third mate and laid another egg, I was disappointed to see, in story after story, no mention of the heroic human effort that’s been devoted to Kuaihelani. In 1996, Island Conservation eliminated chick-eating rats from Wisdom’s nesting grounds. This year, before Wisdom arrived, PMDP removed 70,000 pounds of trash from the atoll. The pictures are worth 1,000 words.
Why do we exclude ourselves from these stories?
This note from
captured my feelings about many wildlife and nature headlines:Without mention of the enormous human effort devoted to conservation, ogling over stories like Wisdom’s is the equivalent of watching wildlife porn.
We are understandably conflicted about our role on this Earth. We see ourselves destroying it and think the solution is to remove humans from nature. A tendency arises to believe stories like Wisdom’s are more pure if we leave ourselves out of them.
Yet, indigenous communities frequently remind us that humans are a part of nature. Hawaiians promote the value of kuleana, which means both responsibility and privilege, and see humans in a reciprocal relationship with land. Robin Wall Kimmerer teaches us that sweetgrass thrives where humans sustainably harvest it.4 An increasing number of writers, like
, are telling the stories of human contribution to a planet that can thrive.Time and again, we see that, with our involvement, the world can be saved.
About Earth Hope:
Earth Hope is a solutions-based journalism project that highlights environmental success stories from around the globe, because hope is the foundation of progress. I’m Amanda Royal, a former newspaper reporter and current eco-news junkie. Read more about this project and what inspired it.
Visit earthhope.substack.com for more stories.
It’s pronounced Pa-pa-hah-now-mo-koo-ah-keh-ah. Try it out! 🌸
Mark is the founder of Salesforce.
More specifically known as the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone
I once attended a talk by Ray Bradbury. He was adamant we had to colonize Mars b/c Earth was doomed. I kept thinking, no, Mars is uninhabitable. We have to clean up Earth. Stories like these about the efforts of humans committed to saving nature, are inspiring
These folks would need their own program on The Teaching Channel - if only The Teaching Channel was for teaching! But seriously, this is grueling work, and everyone involved deserves gratitude. As irresistible as he may be, I don’t know if this smiling yet determined suntanned man does the difficulty justice.
It isn’t an easy thing to remove huge nets and fishing gear - which is designed to get caught on whatever it encounters. You certainly attempted to convey this, Madam Royal. I am sure the whole column could have been about injuries sustained in the course of this work.
I can imagine fishing hooks frequently catch on people, netting gets twisted around arms and legs, and God knows what else occurs to people using very little specialized safety gear themselves.
So congratulations to the people of PMDP - because I cannot remember how to spell their actual name!