Five local businesses partner in the most successful underwater cleanup in state history.

In a post-Earth Day underwater clean-up on May 10 and 11, five Maui businesses retrieved the most abandoned shoreline fishing gear ever collected in a single event. More than three miles of tangled fishing line and at least 600 pounds of lead weights, ulua hooks and stainless steel leaders were lifted from the shallow reef below two popular fishing spots between the Scenic Lookout and the Pali tunnel.

Spanning two days, the event celebrated both Earth Day and Hawai‘i’s International Year of the Reef. For the first time, five companies—four of them friendly competitors—came together in a commitment to salvage the fishing gear that chokes the delicate reef and popular fishing spots on the Pali.

Maui Dive Shop, Maui Diamond II, Maui Dreams Dive Company and Octopus Reef collaborated on the effort. Maui Sporting Goods took what was collected and recycled it for reuse. All of the dive companies are members of the Maui Reef Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps coordinate the cleanups.

“What they were able to remove from Maui’s reefs was substantial,” said Carey Morishige, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Marine Debris Program outreach coordinator.

“We’re recycling all of it,” said event coordinator and Octopus Reef owner Rene Umberger. “Maui Sporting Goods can take the clean fishing line, and they’ll separate the weights, hooks and leaders for reuse by local fishermen.”

When Umberger delivered Saturday’s load of gear—10 overstuffed 18-gallon storage bins of marine debris—to Maui Sporting Goods, the staff was stunned. “My reaction was, ‘Wow! You picked this up from one spot?’” said Maui Sporting Goods manager Brad Yokouchi. “It was a lot.”

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Brian Yoshikawa, owner of the popular Wailuku fishing gear outlet. “There was way more than 500 pounds of lead, and there had to be at least three miles of line.” Yoshikawa has already cleaned and resold much of the lead and plans to melt down the rest to be recast into weights.

Forty-two certified scuba divers and snorkelers volunteered during the two-day event, each combing the reef for debris for two hours. On the ride back to the harbor, many were surprised at the impact they had made in such a short time.

“When we lead dives, I can’t spend a lot of time picking up the trash that’s down there,” said Maui Dive Shop employee Jason Mann. “It’s something you always want to do, but don’t have the facilities for on your own.”

There are several popular fishing spots along the Pali that do not have easy shore access for divers. Boats are required for the retrieval efforts. Both Maui Dive Shop and the Maui Diamond II donated boats, support crew time, dive gear, food and equipment for the cleanup.

“We’re so happy to give back to the resource and help in any way we can,” said Maui Dive Shop general manager Jeff Strahn. “It was even more successful than we’d hoped, so we’re looking forward to tackling more sites in the future.”

Thanks to a blossoming partnership between Maui Reef Fund’s environmentally active divers, local fishermen and Maui Sporting Goods, recent clean-up efforts have been focused on what fishermen say are the most popular—and most congested—fishing spots on the island.

Clearing the gear and other trash from the reef is a benefit for Maui’s shorecasting fishermen, too. Snagged lines in the water will tangle new casts, so clearing their fishing spots makes them more successful. Rock and coral line the shore and make fishing a tricky business. Casting for distance and shore fishing requires 8- to 12-ounce lead weight “grabbers” and stainless steel leaders attached to standard fishing tackle.

But those clawlike grabbers and circle hooks catch on the reef’s rocks, ledges and coral. When that happens, ulua fishermen have to cut their lines and start again. The marine debris adds up, and our coastal reefs pay the price.

Coral grows slowly, its progress measured in centimeters per year. Abandoned fishing gear wraps around the coral and can kill an entire colony by crushing its soft tissues.

“Unfortunately, fishing line isn’t made out of easily biodegradable substances,” said Maui Reef Fund project manager Ananda Stone. “Unless someone dives in to retrieve the equipment, the harmful debris chokes the area, inflicting damage for years.” Monofilament fishing line can take hundreds of years to degrade in the ocean.

But frequent clean-up events like this are making a positive difference. Since the Pali cleanups began in 2005, more than 1,500 pounds of fishing gear has been removed from the reef. The coral has clearly been damaged, but the volunteers are encouraged at the improvement even a single dive can make.

“From start to finish, the reef changed quite a bit,” said dive instructor Cyrus Widhalm. His brother and fellow instructor, Ty Widhalm, agreed. “We found 10 bagfuls of stuff out there.”

Organizers have fine-tuned the process. Volunteer teams conduct two 50-minute dives. Armed with wire cutters and recycled burlap shopping bags, each team identifies a focus area of approximately 200 square feet. Collecting anything from glass bottles, discarded cell phones and fishing gear, they methodically work their way along the reef. When a bag is brimming with rubbish—it takes about 20 minutes to fill a sack—divers send it up to snorkelers waiting on the surface. They empty it into bins on the boat and return the bag to the divers.

“Without the support from all of our local businesses and the passionate volunteerism of this community, the reefs would be in distress and unable to sustain the marine life that makes Maui so special to residents and visitors alike,” said Umberger. “We’re exceeding our mission’s expectations.”

Maui Reef Fund’s mission is to protect and preserve the marine resources of Maui and promote an environmentally sustainable marine tourism industry. The group was founded after a 2003 visitor survey of Molokini Crater and Honolua Bay concluded that tourists enjoying undersea activities would be willing to contribute to a preservation fund. The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and NOAA provided the program’s initial funding.