Hawaii Wildlife Fund, Matson continue to support Nets-to-Energy program

Hawaii Wildlife Fund staff and volunteers recently filled another 40-foot container with 20,820 pounds, or 10 tons, of derelict fishing and cargo nets and line that were collected this year from Hawaii Island’s coastlines.

Of these massive net and line bundles, five truckloads were collected from the Kona and Hilo Division of Aquatic Resources offices. These truckloads were collected by community volunteers, dive shops, island fishermen and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources staff.

The load also included nets from Pohoiki and Wai‘opae in areas that were inundated by lava.

This is the second container filled and shipped to Oahu by HWF this year — the 11th since 2005 via the Ka Ipu ‘Aina program thanks to Matson. This entire effort is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Nets-to-Energy partnership.

Since HWF began contributing nets to this program 13 years ago, 63 tons of nets have been diverted from Hawaii Island landfills. The nets being sent for incineration primarily were collected by HWF staff and volunteers but also include efforts by Hawaii County lifeguards, DLNR staff and community members around the island.

“We love that the community looks to HWF to report and remove large net bundles,” said HWF’s Education Coordinator Stacey Breining. “Net bundles can potentially entangle or smother our precious marine life and animals have been known to ingest it as well. That’s why we relentlessly strive to clean it up. Folks can bring any nets or lines they have collected to our net collection bins outside both the Hilo (Wailoa Fisheries Station) and Kona (Honokohau Harbor) DLNR DAR offices.”

To report any large or potentially dangerous debris items, call HWF’s marine debris hotline at 769-7629 and DLNR at 587-0405.

Matson’s Ka Ipu ‘Aina program supports community members and small organizations cleaning up the island’s land and sea environments. Once the container reaches Oahu, the nets move into NOAA’s Nets-To-Energy program and are transported to Schnitzer Steel Industries, where they will be chopped into pieces suitable for combustion at the City and County of Honolulu’s H-POWER energy waste facility. The combustion process drives steam-powered turbines to produce electricity.

HWF is a nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1996 to conserve native wildlife.

• For more information about this project or how to get involved with HWF, email kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com or call 769-7629. You also can check out the HWF website at www.wildhawaii.org.