The nonprofit Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project recently reached a big milestone.
Since 2020, it has removed 1 million pounds of marine debris from the reef and shoreline within the nearly 600,000-square-mile Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.
That’s an area larger than all U.S. national parks combined, over a distance equal to traveling between Boston and the Florida Everglades. The Pacific area also encompasses the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The nonprofit focuses on protecting wildlife and habitats within the marine national monument from the threats of marine debris. Kevin O’Brien, the founder and president, grew up in Montana and attended the University of Hawaiʻi.
He said that the Papahānaumokuākea project used to be federally funded. However, eventually, it lost some of its federal funding and was at risk of disappearing. O'Brien then took over and started the nonprofit to keep the project alive.
"We weren't really sure when we started if we were gonna be able to essentially raise the support to be able to do this at the level required. I think hitting that million pounds made it clear the people are also behind this work and that we can really make it happen," he said.
O'Brien shared that the reason or the why behind the nonprofit is the place. He said Papahānaumokuākea is "special and important to so many things." He added that Papahānaumokuākea is integral to Native Hawaiian cultural narratives and is home to many of Hawaiʻi's most protected species.
"I think the benefit of us working in Papahānaumokuākea is that we have the ability to witness this trash essentially interacting with wildlife on a daily and almost hourly basis when we're there. We might see a Hawaiian monk seal, which is highly endangered, interacting, rolling up and getting itself tangled up in a net, or we might see a seabird getting fed plastic by its parent, or any manner of interaction like that," he said.
The marine national monument isn't populated and people must obtain a permit to visit for cultural activities, research or conservation. However, he said that because the area isn't populated, no one is making sure it stays clean.
"It's just so incredibly important, and it's unique, and it's a place that feels like you're stepping back in time when you visit —how special the place is really hits you when you go there. You might set foot on an island and be the first human that some of those animals have ever seen," he said.
O'Brien said that along with cleaning debris on the shoreline, they clear out debris in the water, near the reef, which is where most of their work is done.
"We put together a team of free divers. We don't use any scuba gear. Free diving is much more streamlined. It's quicker. Most of what we find is between 0 and 30 feet depths, and so we don't really need to put on a tank to do this," he said.
Most of the debris the nonprofit finds is from the fishing industry. However, O'Brien said the fishing gear they find is "almost never from Hawaiʻi-based fisheries."
"I think that the best thing people can do is actually get their seafood from people that they know, from fishermen that they know, especially in Hawaiʻi, where we know we're not really contributing to this problem locally. Obviously reducing the amount of plastic that you use in your daily life, single-use plastic — water bottles, forks and spoons and all the stuff that everybody's heard a million times is actually really important because we do still find that stuff," he said.
The nonprofit's next mission is to reach 2 million pounds, which O'Brien thinks will take less time.
"The last four years we've been not only just conducting these cleanups, but also getting our organization off the ground. Now I think we've really hit our stride, but really we have to remind ourselves that the ultimate goal is actually to come back with less marine debris and that once we catch up with the big backlog of debris that's accumulated over the last 20 years, and then start keeping up with the annual influx — that ideally we'll put ourselves out of a job, kind of as the ultimate goal that we've really taken care of the problem," he said.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Dec. 9, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Tori DeJournett adapted this story for the web.
