Agencies Organize Marine Cleanups in Effort to Protect Hawaiʻi wildlife

PSP staff member, CJ Kow (far right, front row), participating with HWF staff and volunteers in a beach cleanup at Kamilo Point where they collected 866 lbs. of trash in December 2019.
Photo credit: M. Lamson / HWF

State and local agencies are working together to protect Hawai‘i’s endangered species by doing beach cleanups.

Under the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources, the State’s Protected Species Program (PSP) will join Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund (HWF) in cleanups and net patrols this year. The hope is to mitigate potentially life-threatening marine debris to endangered Hawaiian monk seals and hawksbill sea turtles, as well as the threatened green sea turtles and other protected species.

“Marine debris poses a mortality risk to seals and turtles if ingested or if animals become entangled,” DLNR stated in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “The PSP team is excited to be collaborating with HWF to reduce the amount of trash found on Hawaiʻi’s coastlines, making them safer for marine wildlife.”

For more information on HWF’s marine debris removal efforts on Hawaiʻi Island, visit https://www.wildhawaii.org/projects.html#debris_project.

For more information on PSP’s other outreach efforts visit: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/fishing/fishing-around-protected-species/.