Thanks to the world’s first hatchery for sea urchin used for bio-control, housed at Sand Island, most of Kaneohe Bay’s patch reefs are healthy and largely clear of invasive seaweed species. For decades the seaweed had been smothering and killing coral, reducing the habitat’s ability to produce fish and marine life.

Kudos to the University of Hawaii-Manoa Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit and the state Division of Aquatic Resources for a successful 10-year effort of dispatching hatchery-raised urchins to chomp down the seaweed. The urchin-grazing project is now also underway on reefs in the Waikiki Marine Life Conservation District.