Reef Restoration Cruise,  Cruise 98-12

     During this cruise, the CROMWELL was involved with surveying the coral reefs surrounding French Frigate Shoals and retrieving any derelict fish and cargo nets entangled upon the coral. The CROMWELL and her crew, have performed similar surveys on the coral reefs along the Northwester Hawaiian island chain, and we have always found more net than the ship can haul back during these surveys.
     The CROMWELL was assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter "KUKUI", which has a much larger crane and carry capacity. When we arrived at French Frigate Shoals on Oct. 30, the KUKUI and her crew had been on station for a number of days and already had 2 tons of net aboard!
     Surveying the reef is mostly accomplished by towing snorkelers over the reef with small boats. It is the snorkelers who have the "fun job", as they get to view the pristine corals first hand as they "fly" their tow boards through the water. Large Ulua (Jacks) often follow the divers in hopes that small fish will be frightened from their coral homes. When the divers locate a net, they signal the tow boat, which records the location with GPS (Global Positioning System) and a small buoy.
     A second team, consisting of scuba divers equipped with lift bags and cutting shears, then arrives to cut the net free from the coral. They float it to the surface, and hoist it into the boat for the trip to one of the ships. Cutting the net free from the reef is often a noisy operation and sometimes attracts a white tip reef shark or two and the ever present Ulua. Some of the Ulua approach 110 lbs and are the animals to be careful of.
     The net locations were recorded for comparison with future reef surveys, to gain some understanding as to how fast these nets are accumulating and to determine if our efforts are gaining against the incoming flow of new nets. The nets consist of all types and include trawl nets, cargo nets, and gill nets. The nets are made from long-lasting materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, and monofilament and range from decades old to fairly recent.
     Undoubtedly, many of the nets were accidentally lost during storms or snagged upon the bottom. However, many of the sections we find, appear to have been cut out during net repairs. It is a mistaken belief among many fisherman, that net tossed into the deep ocean, will sink and rot on the bottom and never be seen again. Rather than sinking to the bottom, these nets remain near teh surface, drifting around the oceans with the currents. It is only a matter of time before they encounter a coral reef. The nets readily snag the coral heads and either break them free from the bottom or cover them over thus smothering them. Inside the recovered nets, we have found marlin bills, dolphin and turtle bones, entrapped fish as well as hundreds and hundreds of pounds of dead coral.
     On November 6, 1998, the KUKUI left French Frigate Shoals for Honolulu with 6 tons of recovered net on her decks. The CROMWELL continued work and recovered an additional 2 tons over the following two weeks. Much of the net we recovered was from an estimated 2,000 lb trawl net that had washed up on Gin Island, which is a favorite resting place for green sea turtles, Hawaiian monk seals and numerous sea bird species.