Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge

The Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, located off of Mokulele highway in south Maui is home to many native birds on this island. The Kealia Pond is a precious place here on this island because without it, our native birds wouldn’t have a place to go and lay eggs somewhere safe. The Kealia Pond needs to be protected better and should be taken care of from everyone who lives here and tourists alike. There are a couple of invasive things that we need to get rid of, the main one being the California Bulrush that is taking over Kealia pond. This invasive plant is over growing all of the native plants in the area and it doesn’t help because the birds can’t nest in it due to the fact that it is not thick enough for the nest and it grows too high so that wild animals can eat the eggs. California Bulrush is not something good and we need to get rid of it as soon as possible.

There are two main birds that are in need of our help! There is the Hawaiian Stilt (Ae'o0 also known as the "One standing tall." There is also the Hawaiian coot ('Alae Ke'oKe'o) also known as the "White Forehead." These two brids are endemic to the hawaiian islands.

The signifigance of the Kealia Pond is that it provides a shelter and a feeding area for the native birds on our island. This place is important to help get rid of the California Bullrush because it is taking over the pond and is making it hard for endangered species to nest and lay eggs.

There are many things that we tried to do in order to get rid of the Bulrush. We Cut and sprayed, Sprayed and jsut cut. I think that out Study which was the Spray was the one that got rid of the Bulrush the most because all of our Bulrush was almost gone. This study was alot of fun and I hope that we can try to continue to get rid of this invasive specie.

REEF: OVERFISHING: THE EXPLOITATION OF MARINE RESOURCES

Reef is a group of people who encourage those who want to learn about the fish in the ocean and send out surveys. Reefs mission is to conserve marine ecosystems by educating marine enthusiasts.

Overfishing: the exploitation of marine resources

Overfishing has become a big problem in this big ocean. Overfishing is the fact of someone taking too much that is needed from the ocean. Ultimately overfishing may lead to resource depletion in cases of subsidized fishing, low biological growth rates and critical low biomass levels. Resource depletion is referring to exhaustion of raw materials within a region. Resource depletion is most commonly referred to fishing, farming, and mining. Catching so much fish for the system to support, leads to an overall degradation of the system. Overfishing is a non-sustainable use of the ocean. Fish stocks are one of the main reasons what the fish population is decreasing. The fish fleets are taking way too much from the ocean to handle. Over Fishing can and has become a big issue. Many people just take the ocean for granted and dont care. I think that there should be a ban of how much fish can be taken from the ocean from each fisherman.

For more information about REEF, please visit:
http://www.reef.org