Alberts, Elizabeth Claire. “Hawaiian Reefs Lost Almost Half Their Fish to Pollution and Fishing.” Mongabay, Elizabeth Claire Alberts, 21 Sept. 2020, news.mongabay.com/2020/09/hawaiian-reefs-lost-almost-half-their-fish-to-pollution-and-fishig/ Accessed 14 Feb. 2021. 

In this article by Elizabeth Claire Alberts, she talks about how there has been a 45% decline of the fish population in Hawaii due to the coral reefs dying. Each fish has their duty to help keep the coral reefs healthy and if several fish that have impacts on the reefs start to die, then the coral will also die because the fish aren’t maintaining the reefs. More unhealthy algae will start to grow on the croal, to add on, if the coral starts to die rapidly then the fish that are alive have nowhere to hide from predators, and get the food the coral provides. The West Hawaii lands are sectioned off in groups based on areas and are each protected by the state laws. Finally, the Oceans Target program has claimed to fix 30% of Hawaii’s reefs by 2030. 

I really liked this article because it gave me insight and educated me on the different projects that are being performed in Hawaii in order to protect their reefs from collapsing. I found it really sad how the fish are declining as well, which can really impact humans and the reefs, as the article stated, fish helps keep the coral alive and healthy and the coral provides shelter, protection, and food for the fish. So without the balance both populations will decline. Hawaii has many coral reefs that are attractions to tourists which means that many humans who visit these reefs have an impact on the pollution so the protection acts are good because it gives limits on what tourists can and can’t which leads to healthier coral.