02/16/23 – MAJOR MILESTONE REACHED TO COMBAT INVASIVE ALGAE IN KĀNEʻOHE BAY

JOSH GREEN, M.D. GOVERNOR DAWN CHANG CHAIRPERSON For Immediate Release:  February 16, 2023 MAJOR MILESTONE REACHED TO COMBAT INVASIVE ALGAE IN KĀNEʻOHE BAY 1,000,000 Native Sea Urchins Raised and Outplanted To view video please click on photo or view at this link: https://vimeo.com/799337621 (KĀNEʻOHE BAY, OʻAHU) – A major milestone was reached this week as teams from the Ānuenue Fisheries Research Center (AFRC), a facility of the DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), planted the one millionth juvenile native sea urchin in Kāneʻohe Bay on Oʻahu. Since January 2011, AFRC has successfully spawned and raised collector urchins in captivity with the purpose of releasing them in the bay as part of an ecosystem-based management plan for environmental mitigation work in the bay and off Waikīkī. “The millionth urchin and about 13,000 others were planted on a patch reef in North Kāneʻohe Bay where they will go to work, grazing on invasive seaweed,” Eric Dilley, DAR Monitoring Coordinator said. The native urchins act as underwater gardeners and help keep invasive seaweeds under control. This allows corals to grow and provide habitat for reef fish and other marine life. Urchins are spawned, settled, and raised at AFRC on Sand Island as part
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