Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Dec. 2, 2013

ULTRAMAN CAME THROUGH KA`U over the weekend, with competitors riding their bikes during the 320-mile, three-day event that ended Sunday. Winners of the Ultraman World Championships Hawai`i with a 6.2-mile swim, 261.4-mile bike and 52.4 mile run are often in an older age group than the Kona Ironman. This year’s winners were Miro Kregar, 51, and Hillary Biscay, 35. Kregar is from Slovenia, and Biscay is from Tuscon, Arizona. 

      The first day ended at Namakani Paio in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The second day began on Pi`i Mauna Drive in the park.

“ALL OF THIS HULLABALOO ABOUT BILL 113, the Big Island anti-GMO bill recently passed by the Hawai`i County Council – What it’s really about is that we need to take a little more time, so we can be sure we are making good and informed decisions,” said Hamakau Springs Country Farms owner Richard Ha in a Civil Beat commentary.
      “It’s not ‘us against them.’ It’s not ‘GMO against organic.’ It isn’t ‘who’ is right, so much as it is ‘what’ is right,” Ha said.
      “It’s significant that a group of farmers and ranchers who, between them, grow 90 percent of the food produced on the Big Island, have banded together to say the same thing: We need to think this through more carefully.
      “These farmers and ranchers opposed Bill 113 because the bill was rushed and its consequences were not considered. We didn’t take the time to think it all through and come to the best decision for everyone.
      “Bill 113 looks through a very narrow prism; there is a much bigger picture that is not being considered. We are not taking into account the risk of rising energy prices. We live in the humid subtropics, where there is no winter to kill off bad insects. Our solution has been to use petroleum products to fight them off and also to make fertilizers – but now, the price of oil has skyrocketed, and this is becoming unsustainable.
      “Use solar energy, some say. But solar energy is only sustainable right now because of subsidies, and we cannot expect that subsidies will always be there.
      “A leaf, though, is also a solar collector, and it’s free. Being able to leverage our sun energy year round – assuming we have a way to control our pests – would make our farming and ranching industry, and our local food production, more than sustainable.
      “A solid solution to the extensive problems caused by rising oil costs is to use scientific advances. Biotechnology. It’s comparable to how we use iPhones now to replace the big walkie-talkies we used before.
      “We need to think through all of this in great detail. All of us need to be open to the fact that our research might prove a certain favorite plan of action unsustainable. If that’s the case, we need to move on to the next idea and research that one carefully, getting input from every side.
      “We need to consider unintended consequences of legislation. We need to slow down, and research, and make carefully informed decisions,” Ha concluded.
      See civilbeat.com.
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GLOBAL CHANGES IN CLIMATE AND OCEAN CHEMISTRY affect corals whether scarce or abundant, and often it is the dominant, abundant corals with wide distributions that are affected the most, according to a team of scientists from University of Hawai`i-Manoa, Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

      The researchers evaluated both the geologic record of past extinctions and recent major events to assess the characteristics of dominant corals under various conditions. They determined that, during periods advantageous to coral growth, natural selection favors corals with traits that make them more vulnerable to climate change.
      The last 10 thousand years have been especially beneficial for corals, the researchers found. Acropora species, such as table coral, elkhorn coral and staghorn coral, were favored in competition due to their rapid growth.
      “This advantageous rapid growth may have been attained in part by neglecting investment in few defenses against predation, hurricanes or warm seawater,” their report stated.
      Acropora species have porous skeletons, extra thin tissue and low concentrations of carbon and nitrogen in their tissues. “The abundant corals have taken an easy road to living a rich and dominating life during the present interglacial period, but the payback comes when the climate becomes less hospitable,” researchers concluded.
      They propose that conditions driven by excess carbon dioxide in the ocean cause mortality at rates that are independent of coral abundance. This density-independent mortality and physiological stress affects reproductive success and leads to decline of corals.

      Some coral species are abundant across a broad geographic range, but the new findings show that this does not safeguard them against global threats, including changing ocean chemistry and rising temperatures.
      While assessments and evaluations of the risk of extinction for a species of coral are made on the basis of how scarce or restricted in range it is, these new findings highlight vulnerability of abundant and widely dispersed corals as well as corals that are rare and/or have restricted ranges.
      The authors hope to strengthen the case for directly addressing the global problems related to coral conservation. Though it is good to handle local problems, the authors stress, the handling of all the local problems will not be sufficient.
      See soest.hawaii.edu.

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`AMA`AMA SEASON IS NOW CLOSED through Monday, March 31, 2014. The striped mullet are about to enter their peak spawning season, which increases their vulnerability to fishing pressure. “The annual winter closure is designed to help the fish reproduce successfully and protect the species from overfishing,” said William J. Aila, Jr., chair of the Department of Land & Natural Resources.

      “We ask the public’s kokua in complying with the closed season,” Aila said. “While it’s DLNR’s job to protect our marine resources, everyone shares in the responsibility to take care of important fish species like `ama`ama to ensure their survival into the future.”
      Violations of the size or season restrictions can result in fines of up to $500 and/or 30 days in jail, plus up to $100 for each fish taken. In addition to criminal penalties, an administrative fine of up to $1,000 per violation may be assessed by the department.
      Copies of statewide fishing regulations for `ama`ama and all other marine species are available at Hawai`i Island’s DLNR/Division of Aquatic Resources office at 75 Aupuni Street, Room 204 in Hilo.
      Fishing regulations can also be found at hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar.

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MARLEY STRAND-NICHOLAISEN is volleyball Freshman of the Year in the collegiate Pacific West Conference. She plays for the University of Hawai`i-Hilo Vulcans and is a graduate of Ka`u High School and resident of Discovery Harbour. She is the daughter of Lorie Strand and Robert Nicholaisen. The fresman, who received a U.H. scholarship to play volleyball, is a member of the 2013 All-PacWest Women's Volleyball Team.