Wailua - On Wednesday, March 22, 2007, the Vernal Equinox, Surfrider Foundation, Kauai Chapter dispatched the first "Net Patrol" to Nukoli'i Beach. "The Spring Equinox just seemed like the right time to dispatch our first Net Patrol and take care of the Nukolii net" said Surfrider's Sheri Saari.  Four Surfrider Volunteers: Barbara, Lisa, Ross and Sheri joined three local beachgoers: Jamiee Makiano and Marc Udarbe of Kaua‘i High School and Jasmine Makiano of Chiefess Kamakaheile Middle School to team up and remove a large tangle of fishing nets washed up on the East shore beach. “It really was all about teamwork” said Barbara Weidner of Surfrider.

 

SPONTANEOUS ALOHA LIGHTENS THE LOAD

The chapter has been doing beach monthly beach clean-ups island-wide for the past year.  So, it was no surprise when I got a call about the Nukolii net this past November. A concerned citizen phoned me up at work one day, expressing her concern for the threat of entanglement the net posed to marine mammals. She asked if Surfrider could remove it. Empathizing with the woman, I explained that we were not yet equipped with the resources to deal with nets of this magnitude. The same woman wrote us a check. In February, we launched a Surfrider Beach Clean-up at Nukolii and relied on the tools our volunteers would supply. It was time to buy our own tools. After holding our first benefit to raise funds and public awareness for the chapter, we finally had the financial resources and the human-power to get the job done.

 

Upon my arrival to Nukoli'i late Wednesday afternoon, I headed down to the beach, small clippers in hand. There it was, the monstrous net all tangled up. And I was blue. Overwhelmed by the net’s endless knots, size, weight and tenacity, I doubted it could be removed. But then I thought, maybe this was a project that we could bite off a little bit at a time. So I sat down on a piece of driftwood and began cutting away at individual strands of fishing line.

 

High tide brought intervals of waves, washing sand and water over my feet. The air was humid and salty. Low clouds lined the horizon. The backdrop could not have been more beautiful. And yet the beach was relatively quiet.  Unlike a charsimatic Hanalei or Po'ipu Beach Park, Nukoli’i receives less human traffic and remains off the beaten path. Unfortunately, fishing nets washed off the beaten often go unnoticed.

 

After severing a few more strands of line, I began hauling the first load of net toward the parking lot.  I was relieved to see three more Surfrider Net Patrollers had arrived. My smile widened with hope and inspiration. Equipped with tools in hand, the four of us descended upon the net. Adrenaline-charged and ready for action, we were serious. And together, we were strong. Shrub loppers turned out to be the tool of choice for the project. We developed a system in which two people would pull the rope taut from each side and a third person would attack with the lopper. The fourth person continued to use the hand clippers to work on the smaller nets. And then, with relative ease, thanks to Ross, our team was able to carry the once-anchored net.

 

Sticks of wood freshly released from the net drifted out to sea as the four of us drifted in and out of conversation. As the net’s lines were severed, questions were raised: Where did the ropes and nets come from? The fact that some of these giant ropes may have served as tow lines for a distant ferry tied to a cleat, on a dock, at some foreign port, across the globe, stretches the imagination. Furthermore, it is probable that many of the nets were generated in foreign commercial fisheries and may have traveled  thousands of miles to reach Kaua‘i’s shores. The global reality resonates deep in the consciousness. The issue of polluted oceans is immense.  And much like the net, it feels heavy, unmanageable, impossible – at first.

 

The marine debris that fills in the cracks of this tangle of nets hits home and resounds the old cliché, “think globally, act locally.”  Although many of the marine debris fragments, mostly plastic, may have been generated far and away, we recognized them as byproducts of our culture’s disease of over-consumption and disposable lifestyle: a tooth brush, a lighter, bottle caps amidst the debris. We discuss the concept of the convergence zone that exists between California and Japan, where currents come together and marine debris rafts up. Within this convergence zone, exist islands of trash that double the size the state of Texas. This is the same trash that adult Albatross engulf when swallowing fish eggs…the same trash that parent birds regurgitate for their chicks. One study found that thousands of chicks on Midway Atoll dye every year due to dehydration and starvation. Over half of these mal-nourished chicks have bellies full of trash. These truths like the fishing net, are tough to deal with. Fortunately, as we all began to take some deep breaths, a timely severage of the line occurred and a hopeful conversation ensued. Lisa told a story about volunteers on Maui recently freeing a Humpback whale entangled in marine debris. Once again, we are focused on the mission at hand.

 

Strand by strand, rope by rope, load by load, we were doing it. We were dismantling the nets!  As we began to haul another section of netting, a group of teenagers a few hundred yards down the beach came into view. I started waving my arms frantically, and motioning for their help. It was a dramatic plea to remove imminent danger, sounded with the same urgency one might expect when being called to respond to a beached whale or a swimmer in distress. The bystanders heeded the call. And then there were seven of us hauling net.

 

The real surprise unfolded minutes later when the three teenagers- who had most likely planned to spend a relaxing afternoon at the beach –returned to help! The young man from Kaua‘i High School readily took a pair of loppers and jumped right into the mess, while the two young wahine held the tangle sturdy. At one point, he said: “Yah, I fish down here all the time.” Whether these young people felt it was their kuleana to take care of this beach or they simply helped out because they knew we needed them, it was spontaneous aloha that lightened our load and lifted our spirits. Slowly but surely, we tackled the daunting fishing net and were seeing results. We joked about creating a sport out of net hauling, and developing a physical fitness training program using the Net Patrol model! And then Surfrider’s Barbara Wiedner had the idea to harness her beloved dog, “Angel” to the load. Thus, the Hawaiian Ididarod was born!

 

Load after load, we wrestled net up through the naupaka and pohinahina, over the sand dune and into the parking lot.  Before we knew it, the net was removed. In its’ absence, a lone plover foraged and the sun began to set. Our work here was done.

 

I left yesterday feeling a resurgence of energy and joy in my heart. I learned that in just an hour, a few tools and a few people can get the job done. I left feeling empowered by the teamwork, stewardship and aloha I experienced at Nukoli’i.  Mahalo Nui Loa to all who participated that day.

 

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches, for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education.

 

For more information about Surfrider Foundation, please visit www.surfrider.org If you would like to become involved in the Kaua‘i Chapter, please email: surfriderkauai@gmail.com.

If you know of a fishing net posing threat to marine life, or have a beach you’d like help cleaning up,  please call Surfrider Net Patrol at: 635-2593