WAILUKU >> Molokai is among the areas of the state least affected by overfishing, a 17-year multiagency study found.

The study, which began in 2000 and encompassed 25,000 in-water surveys, found overfishing to be the primary cause of reef fish declines in Hawaii, The Maui News reported. Maui and Oahu were most affected by overfishing.

Fish species flourish around Molokai in part because the island has the country’s longest contiguous fringing reefs and is relatively free of the development that plagues other islands.

The number of food fish species — those primarily caught for human consumption — is lower in populated areas, while there is no difference in the abundance of nonfood fish species between populated and unpopulated areas, according to the study. This leads scientists to believe that fishing, rather than other human influences such as pollution or habitat degradation, is primarily responsible for the differences.

Alan M. Friedlander, a University of Hawaii marine ecologist and chief scientist of the National Geographic’s Pristine Seas project, said the data set is the largest ever compiled for Hawaii. He called it “the most compelling evidence that overfishing is the primary driver of reef fish declines in the main Hawaiian Islands.”

But Basil Oshiro, president of the Maui Cooperative Fishing Association, said people are often too quick to single out fishermen for the decline of fish populations.

“I believe that the fish stock is depleted, but not because of overfishing,” Oshiro said. “You got to look at what’s happening on the land-based stuff. Whatever happens on land is going to affect the ocean.”

Oshiro pointed to a number of factors, from development that causes pollution to things like injection wells that contaminate waters.

Fisherman and conservationist Kelson Poepoe said he has taken it upon himself to spread awareness on the declining species and encourage people to harvest responsibly on Molokai, which he said has gone a long way toward helping protect marine resources.