2011 Papahānaumokuākea Intertidal Monitoring Cruise Survey Team Reflections: Christopher Holz – Kalapana Fishing Council

Growing up on Hawaiʻi Island in the Puna District fishing and picking ʻopihi, I've always been interested in sustainable fishing. In Kaimu today, I teach my children to take the initiative and take care of our environment. Our community has come together and created the Kalapana Fishing Council, and last year, we started monitoring ʻopihi. We are also interested in caring for our limu and all the marine and coastal resources. So, I was excited to be part of the research team on this cruise to learn more about the taxonomy of Hawaiian limu, and to make connections and network with resource people.

Being in the ocean at Mokupāpapa, Mokumanamana, and Nihoa, I noticed more predator fish than at home, where the bigger fish are missing. We see ʻōmilu, but not a school of twenty. Everything I learned from this trip I will take back to the next ʻopihi survey in our community. I learned a lot from the other eight members of the research team when we sat around the table after dinner talking about the day, discussing our observations. In the late afternoon and evenings we enjoyed learning more of the Hawaiian names and Latin names for the invertebrates, fishes, and limu, broadening each other's vocabulary. My favorite moments were jumping off the zodiac and swimming for the shore, getting started at work, many times with a white-tip shark escort.

I love life, I enjoy continuing to learn and share what I learn and improve everything, and improve everyone's lives, not just my family, or community. In the future, I'd be very interested in seeing how these amazing islands change over time, over seasons, or to understand how they are connected from land to sea, and to participate in more management activities – invasive species removal, marine debris removal, shoreline monitoring, diving operations.

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