LAHAINA - An estimated 18,942 fish were saved in Maui's waters Sunday as law enforcement and public safety officers went spearfishing for three invasive species in the Roi Round-up Dive Tournament.
"It's the beginning of something big," declared Randy Awo, Maui branch chief for the state's Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement (DOCARE) at the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
"The motto you kill one, save 146. That's a very big effort to be behind," Awo told a crowd that took up most of the seats at the Hard Rock Cafe in Lahaina. The restaurant hosted the tournament registration and check-in station plus a luncheon following the tournament.
Sunday's Roi Round-up was the fourth one of its kind for Maui and represents a continuing effort by spearfishermen, divers and their supporters to raise awareness about reef conservation and invasive species.
Sunday's tournament also served as a fundraiser for the family of the late Maui Police Department patrol officer John Lilio, who lost his battle with cancer on April 18.
This tourney featured law enforcement and public safety officers paired with a civilian of their choice and tasked with spearing three invasive species: roi (blue-spotted grouper), taape (blue-lined snapper) and toau (black-tailed snapper).
All three are known to gorge on fish in both shallow and deep waters and especially on juvenile fish, such as opakapaka, onaga and manini.
"These are the fish people prize for on their tables," Awo explained.
The invasive species, meanwhile, are not desirable for eating. In fact, roi is a high-risk fish for ciguatera poisoning.
The 18 teams competing Sunday were spread across 15 miles of ocean between Papalaua Park and Hanakaoo Beach. Competitors tallied a total of 133 catches; 127 roi and six toau. No taape were caught.
About six of the 18 teams came up empty-handed after three hours of competition. Among them were Awo's son, Nainoa, and his partner, Matt Yamamoto, a conservation enforcement officer who works for Awo.
Nainoa Awo said that he caught five fish, but none of them the invasive species targeted in the tournament.
"It was fun though," Awo said.
Yamamoto said their efforts were not for naught.
"This was a good thing," he said. "An equal value was that it was a benefit for a family and it raised awareness about the environment. Plus it's always nice to be in the water."
Al Lagunte, a DOCARE officer from Honolulu, traveled to Maui along with his partner, Marnie Balubar, a cook from Haleiwa, Oahu, to participate in the tournament.
Lagunte and Balubar won second place for most fish by scooping up 22 of the invaders, most, if not all, roi. The pair focused their efforts in 10 to 35 feet of water off Olowalu by the former Pioneer Mill plantation manager's home.
"We missed a lot," Lagunte said, saying many of the roi he saw ran away into reef holes that he could not get into. "All day it was a cat and mouse game."
Balubar, who does recreational fishing at least once a week, said having the Olowalu area to themselves contributed to their success.
"That was our strategy - to stay away from the others."
Yamamoto and Awo were spearfishing by Mala Wharf and in other areas with competitors nearby.
"Obviously they were doing a good job," Yamamoto said, "because we weren't catching anything."
The team of Troy Baker-Sato, a chef at Hotel Hana-Maui, and Nate Millen, a Maui DOCARE officer, stayed in front of Hard Rock Cafe and caught 18 of the invasive species in 10 to 15 feet of water. The third-place team for most fish recorded 19.
"If we can do our part and peel these fishes off the sea, that's great," Baker-Sato said.
Baker-Sato said keeping the ocean clear of invasive species not only satisfies his desire to free it of harmful fish but also makes it possible for productive and tasty fish to be caught for eating.
The three targeted invasive species - roi, taape and toau - were introduced to Hawaiian waters in the 1950s to enhance both commercial and recreational fishing around the state, according to Randy Awo.
The population of the invasive species, however, has grown so much that the fish are hurting and even eliminating the native species. One estimate is that an invasive species eats about 146 fish, thus the estimate that 133 catches saved 18,942 other fish.
The next Roi Round-up Dive Tournament will be held in November with the same fishing boundaries but no requirements on team partners.
The law enforcement community on Maui along with the diving and spearfishermen wanted to assist Lilio's family in this tournament. Silent and live auctions were held as fundraisers for the family. The total money raised was not available as of Sunday evening.
Lilio's widow, Lesley Pico-Lilio, said she was honored that she and her children, 7-year-old Kobe, and 5-year-old Kaydence, were chosen as beneficiaries for the tournament.
Lilio was diagnosed with a rare form of soft tissue sarcoma in October 2007. He had been a police officer for four years including a stint on patrol in Kihei prior to the cancer diagnosis.
"All he wanted to do was get back to work," Pico-Lilio said of her husband and his battle against cancer. A 1990 Castle High School graduate, Lilio met his wife, a 1992 Maui High School alumna, while she attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa. They were married for nine years.
Pico-Lilio took time off from her job as a high school teacher at the Kamehameha Maui campus but plans to return in the new school year. Her family faces thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills.
"John was very humble. He was a courageous man," Pico-Lilio said. "He would have been happy about this."
John Lilio died at age 36.
The first Roi Round-up tournament was initiated last year by Mayor Charmaine Tavares, Maui Sporting Goods and Darrell Tanaka in conjunction with the International Year of the Reef.
Tavares said mayors on Oahu, the Big Island and even Kauai have all expressed an interest in coordinating similar events on their islands.
The invasive species caught on Sunday will not be wasted/ The larger roi will be sent to the University of Hawaii at Manoa for ciguatera studies, and the smaller fish will be taken to Maui Ocean Center for shark food.
* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com
