Overfishing is when more fish than what is sustainably necessary are caught, and it could potentially destroy an ecosystem. In Hawai'i, for example, overfishing is the assumed assailant behind reduced reef fish populations, according to the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology.
Not only does the act of overfishing around the main Hawaiian Islands destroy specific fish populations and their future generations, but it also messes with biodiversity in established, already suffering reefs.
Sea urchin populations on the reefs of Hawai'i are alarmingly high because of overfishing, so reported NC State University.
What's happening?
An on-site study by Kelly van Woesik, Ph.D. student in the North Carolina State University Center for Geospatial Analytics, and her team found that there are "extremely high densities of sea urchins in Hōnaunau Bay."
The team cites a population decline of carnivorous fish as a source of this dramatic shift. A decline of herbivorous fish was also reported.
According to NC State University's report on van Woesik and her team's study, the urchins eat the reefs. This is natural, but when such a surplus of sea urchins is contributing, bioerosion happens at alarming rates and wears down the reefs.
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With too few herbivorous fish to protect the reefs and too many sea urchins to disrupt them, Hawai'i's coral reefs suffer far beyond the effects of pollution.
"The reefs cannot keep up with erosion without the help of those natural predators [carnivorous fish], and these reefs are essential to protecting the islands they surround," van Woesik said, according to NC State University. "Without action taken now, we risk allowing these reefs to erode past the point of return."
Why is this phenomenon important?
Coral reefs protect coastlines against erosion from waves by absorbing up to 97% of what NC State University calls "incoming wave energy." Without reefs, shorelines would be much more vulnerable to erosion and severe weather, according to the Reef-World Foundation.
Additionally, if the overpopulated urchins continue to multiply and erode coral reefs, more species reliant on reefs for protection will die, further damaging marine biodiversity and limiting food supply for consumers in Hawai'i.
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Definitely 👍 What's being done about marine conditions in Hōnaunau Bay?
The cited study concludes that there is a need for improvement in fisheries management in the area.
With the information van Woesik and her team uncovered, policies to prevent overfishing and to reintroduce fish species in the bay can start to be considered, and could work as a first step to re-biodiversifying Hōnaunau Bay.
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