U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will award $231,660 to the Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund for a three-year project to remove 112 metric tons of abandoned fishing gear and marine debris from the coastlines of Hawai‘i 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.

With the help of the Kauai Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and Pulama Lanai, 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, to remove an expected 112 metric tons of debris. 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.

Located in Paia, the Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Hawai‘i’s native wildlife and ecosystems through research, education and advocacy.