Northwestern Hawaiian Islands/Kure Atoll assessment and monitoring program
Walsh WJ, Okano R, Nishimoto R, Carman B. 2002. Northwestern Hawaiian Islands/Kure Atoll assessment and monitoring program. Final Report Grant Number NA070A0457
The Northwest Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) consist of 9,124 km2 of land and approximately 13,000 km2 of coral reef habitat. They comprise 70% of all coral reef areas under U.S. jurisdiction. This isolated archipelago of small islands, atolls, reefs and banks represent a unique and largely pristine coral reef ecosystem. Despite the actual and potential importance of the NWHI for biodiversity conservation, commercial and recreational fisheries as well as eco-tourism, its immense size and remoteness have challenged scientific observation, data gathering and effective management of this coral reef ecosystem. There is further concern that the islands and reefs have been degraded from the accumulation of derelict fishing gear which physically destroys reefs, entangles reef fauna and poses a risk of introducing alien species. Ship groundings have also impacted reef habitats by spilling fuel and scattering debris. The primary goal of this project was to characterize and document the shallow water community of Kure Atoll focusing primarily on back reef areas. This work is an initial description of these areas and serves as a baseline for future monitoring efforts.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Walsh, William; Okano, Ryan; Nishimoto, Robert; Carman, Brent
- Date of Issue
- 2002-03
- Units
- PACN
- Keywords
- Abundance (Biodiversity), Coastal-Marine Systems, Distribution (Biodiversity), Fish, Hawaii, IAR, Kure Atoll, Marine, Methodology, Monitoring, Non-vertebrate Animal, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Observations, Presence (Biodiversity)