Marcel Honore, Honolulu Civil Beat

Fishing gear threatens Hawaii's already endangered false killer whales

A concerningly high number of endangered false killer whales are being injured when they get hooked by fishing gear in waters off the main Hawaiian islands, according to a new research paper released Thursday.

Published in the scientific journal Endangered Species Research, the research concludes there should be closer monitoring of that unique but dwindling local population and how the creatures — actually dolphins, not whales, and not killers — interact with the small-scale commercial and recreational boats that fish in those waters.

That could include installing cameras to record encounters with the false killer whales, which feed on the same large fish those boats catch and often go after what is already on the hook, said Robin Baird, a research biologist with the nonprofit Cascadia Research Collective, which led the study.

Injuries such as this to a false killer whaleʻs dorsal fin typically happen as the dolphin struggles to free itself from fishing gear. The fin often gets damaged against the taut fishing line. (Courtesy: Robin Baird/Cascadia Research)

“We have an idea of where these interactions are likely occurring, but we donʻt know when theyʻre occurring or with what type of gear,” Baird said Wednesday. “Being able to come up with solutions requires (this) information.”

Cascadia, along with two Hawaii-based wildlife foundations and federal fisheries officials, analyzed photographs taken between 1999 and 2021 of three false killer whale populations found near or around the Hawaii archipelago, including the endangered group that inhabits the waters off the main islands.

The researchers flagged the photos that showed clear fishing-related injuries to the animalsʻ mouths and dorsal fins. The endangered group had the most documented injuries by far, the study showed.

Researchers were able to find photos of both the dorsal fin and the mouth for 153 individual dolphins for that group. Out of those 153, some 44 dolphins had been injured by fishing gear, the study found — nearly one in every three.

False killer whales hunt the same large species of fish coveted by local fishers in Hawaii, including ahi and mahimahi.

The rate of injury was drastically lower for the other two Hawaii populations, which arenʻt endangered. One of them is a pelagic, roaming group of several thousand dolphins. The other, which inhabits the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, has nearly 500 individuals, according to the study.

The endangered group near the main islands is down to an estimated 138 dolphins, according to the study. Itʻs the only endangered population of false killer whales in the world, according to Baird. Theyʻre found anywhere from just off the beach to tens of miles offshore.

That swath of ocean generally coincides with Hawaiiʻs federally mandated “exclusion zone” — a region up to 70 miles offshore where the local longliner fleet is prohibited from fishing.

Thus, the dolphins are getting hooked by smaller-scale boats that fish closer to the islands, not the longliners, Baird said.

Thereʻs already a federally organized False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team thatʻs been working since 2010 to try and reduce the number of species deaths, but the fishers represented in that group are all from Hawaiiʻs longline fishing industry.

Baird on Wednesday recommended forming a new, similar hui (group) that would include the nearshore fisherman to address the plight of the endangered false killer whales.

False killer whales typically hunt and feed on ahi, mahimahi and other fish often sought by human fishers in nearby ocean waters. There have even been unique, documented instances in which the marine mammals have attempted to share their catch with people they encounter in the water, according to Baird.

‘Never give up hope’: Maui residents reflect on a year in the wildfires’ aftermath

This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat. You can sign up for Civil Beat's newsletter here and support the nonprofit newsroom here.

One year after deadly wildfires upended life on Maui, several thousand people gathered across the island Thursday to grieve the lives that were lost, reflect on all they’ve endured and affirm their resolve to keep their communities intact as the difficult work to rebuild continues.

At Hanakao’o Park in West Maui, chants of “Lahaina strong!” echoed across the water as hundreds of those residents paddled out on surfboards just offshore from the beach park. They cheered and splashed as crews aboard the Hawaiian voyaging canoes Hokule’a and Mo’okiha O Pi’ilani looked on in support.

Thousands of flower petals rained down on the paddlers from a helicopter overhead.

Scores of residents on Maui prepare for a paddle-out Thursday commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Aug. 8 wildfires. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

In Upcountry, hundreds more gathered over bentos and cookies at a community center one mile from where neighborhoods were evacuated the day before as firefighters battled to contain a brush fire in Pukalani.

It was an unsettling reminder of the wind-fueled fires that ripped across Maui a year earlier, killing 102 people in Lahaina, displacing more than 3,000 families across the island and causing at least $5 billion in damage.

Residents and other attendees processed a wide range of emotions while marking that somber anniversary Thursday.

“It’s been a rollercoaster,” said Lahaina resident Shaleena Barrios, who attended the Hanakao’o park gathering with her husband, Mike, and their two daughters – Naia, 8, and Bella, 10. They were among the more than 2,000 people estimated to have attended the event.

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A year earlier, the Barrioses had to flee their car, stuck in traffic on Front Street, to escape the fire as it bore down on the historic town. On Thursday, Mike said that he tried to keep himself distracted in the early morning hours and block out those memories as the family prepared for the paddle-out.

“A lot happened that day,” Barrios said. “It’s kind of a day that … I don’t know. You just don’t want to remember.” The family lost its home in the blaze and is working to rebuild it so that they can eventually pass it along to their daughters.

“There’s a lot to figure out, but we’re hopeful,” he added.

The Barrioses have been able to stay in a friend’s condominium for the past year. However, many other displaced families have had to move multiple times to stay on the island. Some displaced families have left Maui altogether as the housing shortage that existed before the fire only got worse and the obstacles to stay grew overwhelming.

Stable housing still desperately needed

Local officials acknowledged this week that creating stable, temporary housing for families displaced by the fire has been among the biggest challenges they’ve faced in the first year. The state, county and federal government have plans in the works to build some 1,044 temporary units across Lahaina in the next year, according to Gov. Josh Green

“The first year was about survival. The second year will be about rebuilding,” Green said Wednesday as he and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen touted a new temporary housing project, dubbed La’Iku, where some 20 displaced families have started to move in.

One of those families, the Ah Pucks, has moved six times since the Lahaina fire destroyed their home.

“Weʻre hoping it will be our last until itʻs time to rebuild,” Carol Ah Puck said Wednesday as she, her husband and daughter moved in Wednesday. The family is awaiting the necessary permits to rebuild their home.

“This is good, at least now we know weʻll be stable — itʻs a stable place to live,” Ah Puck said.

housing Maui wildfires Foundations at the site of the new La’Iku temporary housing complex in Lahaina. The fast-tracked state project aims to give 20 displaced families housing stability in West Maui as they rebuild their permanent homes. Building such temporary housing has been one of the biggest challenges after the 2023 wildfires. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

At another transitional housing complex that’s being built, Ka La’i Ola, the state has already received 600 applications for some 450 units, according to Green.

At Hanako’o on Thursday, Sen. Brian Schatz said he aims to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build more transitional homes on top of the 169 that they have planned.

Schatz said that in the coming months he also aims to secure grant funds to help cover the estimated $1.2 billion in unmet fire needs across Maui. That’s the sum not covered by the recent $4.04 legal settlement.

“Nothing is guaranteed in this Congress, but that is my job,” Schatz said Thursday.

Crews have managed to clear much of the debris out of the fires’ burn zones ahead of schedule, Schatz and others said.

Many attending the paddle-out Thursday wore Lahaina Strong shirts. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

Still, one year after the fire many complex issues remain unresolved in the effort to rebuild Lahaina and other affected areas. That includes how Lahaina’s streets and electrical grids will be configured, and how the area’s limited freshwater resources will be deployed.

Wailuku resident Amy Petersen said that many of the emotions felt by fire victims and other community members affected by the disaster also remain complex – even confusing.

“A lot of people didn’t want to do something like this because they didn’t want to memorialize a day of destruction, and everybody’s process is different,” Petersen said shortly before the Hanakao’o paddle-out. Some people Petersen knew chose to mark the occasion at home, alone. “There’s nothing to compare it to,” she said of the situation.

Still, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, the Maui County Council’s Molokai member, said that the event was an important outlet for members of the community to process their grief and emotions together.

“There’s a lot of heaviness, but there’s a lot of hope. That’s why this event was important to have today, so that no one is feeling all the emotions alone – that we have this space and opportunity,” Rawlins-Fernandez said Thursday as she prepared to paddle out.

“We’re showing those that lost so much in the fire last year that we are here today just as we were last year, and we will continue to be here until the lives that were impacted are lifted back up and made as whole as possible again,” she added.

At the Kula event Thursday, Laura Manahan of Kihei said that one positive outcome from the fires a year ago was “an awareness that things do need to change, and things are changing on Maui.”

Manahan stood near a posterboard set up by Kula Community Watershed Alliance, which offered attendees space to share their dreams for the lands that burned a year ago.

“Time to thrive,” one person wrote.

“Never give up hope,” another wrote. “Maui strong.”

Courtney Teague contributed to this report.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.