Support Responsible Science in the NWHI Monument Management Plan

Support Responsible Science for the NWHI: Research in the NWHI must be conservation-driven, culturally appropriate, and protective of this fragile public trust resource!

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Supporting Responsible Science in Papahanaumokuakea
Rigorous and responsible science in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands can contribute valuable data to important management and conservation decisions. Research, however, that is poorly conducted and poorly prioritized contributes little and can seriously harm this fragile ecosystem.

Sign this Petition!! Add your voice in support of responsible science in the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument. This petition was presented to the Monument Co-trustees as part of the NWHI hui's scoping comments on November 30th, but we are still seeking signatures because this effort to protect the NWHI is on-going.
NWHI hui Comments:
NWHI hui detailed scoping comments on the Science Plan Framework November 30, 2007.
A dozen organizations sign-on in support of responsible science November 30, 2007.
Report on Scoping Meeting format November 15, 2007.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is among the last intact coral reef ecosystems left on earth. One of Hawai'i's most unique and fragile public trust resources, it was granted special status as a National Monument in 2006. Today, this remote island archipelago is the largest and most protected marine area in the world. Read more about how 100 scientists agree conservation and human impacts top the list of research needs in the NWHI May 2003.

Why does the NWHI need responsible science?
Because they are so remote, pristine, and highly protected, the lands and waters of the NWHI provide valuable information to natural resource scientists about the way intact, untouched coral reefs function in nature. Scientists the world over recognize its value, and in 2004, over 400 coral reef scientists signed a statement strongly affirming “the importance of the preservation of the NWHI archipelago as a unique natural legacy for future generations that can serve as an invaluable ecological baseline against which to measure the state of coral reefs and atolls around the world.”
Scientists' Statement on Protection of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 2004.
"Do No Harm in Researching Papahanaumokuakea" (80k PDF) Honolulu Star Bulletin Editorial, June 13, 2007.

The founding principles of responsible science are simple. Responsible science respects the public trust resource it is researching. Responsible science respects the global and local citizen public to which the resource ultimately belongs. Responsible science adopts best practices for minimizing impacts from boat operation, wastewater from boats, specimen taking, and vessel traffic.

Principles of responsible science in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands:
Responsible science contributes meaningfully to the knowledge needed for conserving and protecting the fragile Northwestern Hawaiian Islands ecosystem. This ecosystem faces many threats, and responsible science seeks to understand these threats and the ways in which these threats impact the ecosystem.

Responsible science means NO bioprospecting. This means no science-for-profit, and no research that seeks to patent or expropriate the public trust living resources of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Responsible science is conducted by responsible researchers. Impact from research operations are minimized to the highest degree possible, and responsible researchers agree to adopt strict "best practices" in their study protocols, and to be held accountable by stiff penalties for violations. Responsible science prevents introduction of coral disease, invasive species, impacts from vessel traffic, and pollution from boat wastewater.

Responsible science ensures that the public knows what research is being conducted in their protected public trust waters and lands. The Monument needs researchers who care about the ecosystem and can provide the high-quality scientific data needed to support its conservation. Responsible science means that research permits are granted to responsible researchers through a transparent process, with public accountability. Permits applications are made available for public review and comment before permits are granted. NWHI Permits: Building on Best Practices 2007 permit season (220k PDF) by Dr. Stephanie Fried.

Simply put, responsible science cares about and cares for the resources it is studying.

How Science Activities in the Monument are Managed, and how you can help:
Today, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are managed as the Paphanaumokuakea National Monument, which encompasses 1,200 square miles of land, water, and coral reef. Responsibility for care and protection of the federal Monument and State Refuge goes to the three co-trustee government agencies: NOAA, the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of Hawai'i.

What is responsible science?Together, they are responsible for granting permits to researchers who want to conduct science in the monument. To support this work, the co-trustees are developing a Natural Resources Science Plan. This plan will guide where, when, and what will be researched in the Monument.

Local organizations in Hawai'i and concerned citizens and scientists around the world are joining together to ask our Monument co-trustee agencies to adopt common-sense responsible science principles in their framework for the Science Plan.

You can add your voice of support, by adding your name to KAHEA's Responsible Science petition! The petition will be presented to the Monument Co-trustees at their meeting on November 15.

History of Research Impacts on the NWHI:

Concerns About Possible Criminal & Civil Violations of NWHI Research Permit -
In May 2006, during the first major research mission to the NWHI after the State established the visionary NWHI refuge, a researcher with the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) allegedly illegally cultivated coral onboard the vessel, dumped the water used in the experiment to overboard as the vessel sailed between atolls, and cultivated coral disease bacteria in an incubator en route back to O'ahu. While the state fined the researcher $1,000 for one violation related to the transport of live organisms, the remaining violations are still under investigation and the enforcement proceeding has now moved to contested case.

KAHEA requested to be a party to the contested case proceeding and on February 21, 2008, the state-appointed hearings officer affirmed KAHEA's standing to participate. Click here to LEARN MORE about the contested case and KAHEA's participation.

"KAHEA, as an organization whose established interest and purpose is to preserve, protect and perpetuate the unique and critical resources of the NWHI and the interests of Native Hawaiian practice and pursuit of cultural and religious beliefs and traditional practices, has standing to intervene in the matters at issue in this case." - Hearing Officer Lou Chang, 2/21/08


Thoughts on Responsible Science from KAHEA's Executive Director: It's All About RESPECT, Man.
Evidence of Apparent Civil and Criminal Violations of NWHI Research Permit August 10, 2007 Testimony presented to the Coral Reef Taskforce Meeting in Pago Pago.
Original Enforcement Action (1.9M PDF) January 12, 2007.
Second Enforcement Action July 27, 2007.

Researchers Warned About Their Dangerous Research Project -
In connection with the May 2006 HIMB research mission, the Board of Agriculture's Science Advisory Board was extremely alarmed by the proposal to import to the Main Hawaiian Islands coral disease bacteria that currently does not exist here and dump the waste water used in the open-flow system to cultivate the potentially infected coral. Despite the concerns raised by this panel of experts two weeks before the mission departed, HIMB researchers went ahead with the research, including using an open-flow system that dumped waste water overboard potentially spreading coral disease bacteria.
Summary of the Department of Agriculture's Advisory Board's Comments regarding HIMB research (104K PDF).
Full text of the Advisory Board's decision-making (4.5M PDF) May 2, 2006.

Additional warnings about the potential harms of irresponsible research:
State of Hawai‘i Raises Serious Concerns about Research Activities in the NWHI (152K PDF) August 2006, comments by Division of Aquatic Resources Marine Biologist.
Monk Seal Expert Raises Serious Concerns about Research Activities in the NWHI (44K PDF). August 2006, comments by Bill Gilmartin, a member of the NWHI Monk Seal Recovery Team.