The column about diminishing beaches and shorelines in Hawaii erronerously blames sea walls as the cause (“Kahala’s eroding beaches are public loss, not just private one,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, July 23).
Lacking in the authors’ recital is the fact that, according to federal ocean databases, the count of sand-producing parrotfish found around Hawaii’s reefs is 10% or less of the count in 1970. We’ve eaten and continue eating the reefs’ vital landscapers and beach sand producers.
Consider that each parrotfish produces 1,000-plus pounds of sand a year by scraping and biting off smothering algae from the coral reefs, according to University of Hawaii marine biologist Mark Hixon (“Living ‘lawnmowers’ keep reefs healthy,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Nov. 22, 2020).
This is an ecological emergency. We must immediately outlaw taking any parrotfish from Hawaii’s reef waters with $5,000 and $10,000 fines and five years prison time — with no exceptions — for breaking this law. Otherwise, our beaches and coastlines will continue to shrink into rocky ledges with skimpy amounts of sand on them.
Robert Rodman
Downtown Honolulu
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