Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 3, 1 March 2009 — Niʻihau fish deaths remain a mystery [ARTICLE]

Niʻihau fish deaths remain a mystery

An investigation into what caused ahnost 100 dead fish to wash up on the southern end of Ni'ihau has turned up no clues, ahnost a month after residents there reported the fish deaths to authorities. The state toxicology laboratory conducted tests on the dead fish and prelhninary findings show no evidence of synthetic chemicals that ean pose a deadly threat to marine life. Tests were run to detect the presence of chlorinated pesticides such as heptachlor and organophosphates such as Malathion, but none of these substances was found. Other possible causes of the fish deaths include so-called biotoxins, released into the water by marine organisms, and fishing practices, such as the use of gill nets. However, the fish spechnens were badly decomposed when collected by a team of state aquatic specialists, so that k could not be determined if these factors were a cause of death. A letter submitted to the governor, written by lean īlei Beniamina on behalf of Ni'ihau residents, pleads wkh the state to restrict fishing in the area until any hann to human heakh is ruled out. "We, the Ni'ihau families most affected by this unfortunate threat to our subsistence way of life, err on the side of precautionary principle. That no fish be

caught or eaten from said area until the causative agent has heen detennined," the letter states. Don Heaeoek of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources on Kaua'i said the incident warrants the more extensive testing reconnnended by U.S. Geological Survey guidelines. Following the fish deaths, the state Department of Heahh reconnnended that eonsumers refrain from eating any fish with foul odor. As of this writing, a final report on the toxicology tests was pending.