Armed with mounting evidence that the disease attacking Kauai’s coral reefs is spreading, state aquatic officials Tuesday said they’re stepping up their response to the problem.
Officials said a multi-agency management team has been assembled to take a closer look at the issue and a website has been launched to describe the latest research about the disease.
What’s more, officials said they want everyone in Hawaii to be on the lookout for the black-band coral disease and report any discoveries to its "Eyes of the Reef" website at eorhawaii.org.
"Corals are the building blocks of our ecosystem in Hawaii. And obviously, if we start to see damage in the corals, we start to see the deterioration of the whole ecosystem," said Frazer McGilvray, administrator of the state Division of Aquatic Resources.
McGilvray said a coral disease outbreak in the Caribbean resulted in 80 percent reef loss, leaving no option but to take Hawaii’s situation very seriously. But more research is needed to figure out what’s going on.
"We just can’t put a Band-Aid over the coral without addressing the true symptoms of what’s really causing the prevalence of this," McGilvray said.
Officials said so far it appears the outbreak is largely restricted to the coral reefs of Kauai’s north shore — although it has also appeared at a reef on the Na Pali Coast and another on the east coast of Kauai near Lihue.
Anne Rosinski, state marine resource specialist, said researchers have learned the disease is caused by a bacteria and that it appears to affect only three species of rice coral (Montipora): M. capitata, M. patula and M. flabellata. The disease also appears to be more active in summer.
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Species of rice coral (Montipora) affected: M. capitata, M. patula, M. flabellata
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Surveyed reef sites on Kauai’s north shore found to be infected — 86 percent
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Sites on the Na Pali Coast found to be infected — 25 percent
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The black-band coral disease was originally discovered in low levels by Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology researcher Greta Aeby in 2004, but six years later the disease increased tenfold.
Last summer, of 21 reef sites surveyed on Kauai’s north shore, 18 showed signs of the infection. The highest disease levels were found at Kee and Makua beaches, officials said.
The response team — with representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey and University of Hawaii — is now reviewing the current research in hopes of identifying management options, guiding future studies and ultimately finding a solution.
Christina Runyon, a doctoral student in Aeby’s marine disease research lab, is conducting a study to learn the extent of the disease and is looking at environmental factors. As of April, more than 30 sites had been surveyed.
In addition, the Aeby lab has been experimenting with a treatment method involving the application of a marine putty onto the disease lesion. It has been successful in lab and field trials, and a second trial will begin this summer.
Despite its success, the treatment is only feasible for use on a small scale because of the effort, time and resources needed to apply the putty, officials said.
The website outlining the latest research about the disease and efforts by the management team can be found at dlnr.hawaii.gov/ reefresponse.
"Statewide, Hawaii’s corals are relatively healthy, but with the negative effects of climate change, we are likely to see events like the coral disease outbreak on Kauai more frequently," state Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairman William Aila Jr. said in a statement.
Officials held their news conference Tuesday morning at the Maunalua Bay Boat Ramp. Meanwhile, fisherman Matt Ross was launching his boat for a day of shrimp fishing.
Ross said the state’s effort sounds like a waste of effort.
"Coral disease is a natural thing," he said. "They don’t know what causes it, and they don’t know how to cure it. It’s the last thing I’m worried about."
But McGilvray said the threat is potentially quite serious, especially for those who make their living from the ocean.
Asked why the state hadn’t addressed the problem earlier, McGilvray said one of the problems is that DLNR and its Aquatics Division are "massively" understaffed and underfunded.
"We have many, many more things we would like to do, but we have neither the resources, time and money. In an ideal world we would have been on this 10 years ago. I think the best thing we can say is that we are on it now and it is one of our key priorities," McGilvray said.
