The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will award funding for a three-year project to remove 112 tons of abandoned fishing gear and marine debris from Hawaii’s coastlines.
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz announced Thursday that NOAA will give $231, 660 to Hawaii Wildlife Fund for the project to remove debris from the coastlines of Hawaii Island, Kauai, Maui and Lanai.
“This funding will help these local organizations continue to preserve and restore one of our state’s most impressive and renowned resources – our coastlines,” said Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
This project will include weekly fishing net and large debris patrols along more remote stretches of coastline, as well as quarterly community-based marine cleanup events.
In all, about 300 fishing net and debris patrols and 39 community-based coastal cleanup events will take place on the four different islands.
Fishing net bundles will be shipped to Oahu as contributions to NOAA’s Nets-to-Energy program, which uses lost, abandoned, and discarded fishing nets to produce electricity.
Recyclable content will be sorted and taken to appropriate facilities.
