Conservation

Catherine Cruz reports on the sihek, an endangered bird that recently returned to the wild and laid eggs at their new Pacific island home, Palmyra Atoll.

Kitty Simonds of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council presents the viewpoint of the longline fishers who will be allowed to resume commercial fishing in waters at least 50 miles offshore of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

News that President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing commercial fishing within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument sent environmental advocates into a tailspin. The Conversation spoke with Maxx Phillips, the Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands director and staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Environmental groups are planning to sue President Trump over his plans to open the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, formerly known as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, to commercial fishing. Meanwhile, fishing advocates have argued that current protections haven’t led to meaningful environmental benefits.

HPR continues to look at how federal funding cuts have affected people in Hawaiʻi. HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote talked to three federal workers who were fired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Kauaʻi amid Trump's efforts to downsize the government.

A recent court ruling requires tour boat operators to stop their operations until the state conducts environmental assessments, or determines that the businesses don't need a review. But the measure would side-step the ruling by allowing the “temporary continuation” of authorized ocean recreation and coastal areas programs while environmental reviews are underway.

Kahaluʻu Beach Park will be temporarily closed for nine days in May to give the cauliflower coral colonies time to recover.

Federal spending cuts and firings have already been felt locally, and it's becoming clear that there’s another impact they could have. HPR's Mark Ladao reports on the battle to keep invasive species out of Hawaiʻi.

A study from a team of Hawaiʻi researchers reveals that if all the fallow agricultural land was converted into agroforests, it would counteract the carbon emissions of 100 million barrels of oil. Leah Bremer and Kawika Winter spoke with The Conversation about their group's research.

Officials gathered Monday at Honolulu airport to launch Akamai Arrival, a pilot program that will roll out digital declaration forms on select domestic routes. The Conversation spoke to Jonathan Ho, plant quarantine branch manager for the state Department of Agriculture, to learn more.