Tournament helps mitigate invasive fish, shows how delicious they taste

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A fishing tournament at Maunalua Bay targeting invasive fish wrapped up Sunday, removing more than 1,200 pounds of invasive species from Hawaii’s waters.

The “Eat the Invaders” Fishing Tournament began Friday and was hosted in part by Malama Maunalua at Kuliouou Beach Park.

This year’s event drew 52 teams fishing across Oahu who caught 2,916 invasive reef fish. Taape made up nearly 90 percent of the total haul, with the remaining 10 percent consisting of toau and roi.

Organizers called on the community to help mitigate the number of invasive reef fish species in Maunalua Bay. The tournament also aimed to show how the invasive fish are delicious and can be a source of sustainable seafood in Hawaii.

“We got some taape, we’re just (trying to) remove some invasive fish and make homes for native fish,” said Alika Garcia, a fisherman and executive director of Kuleana Coral Restoration.

Garcia said he’s been fishing for about 25 years, and that previously, there wasn’t much support for removing the invasive fish.

“The community has really gotten behind the importance of removing invasive fish, so maybe we’ll start doing it more now,” he said. “A lot of the neighbor islands have been having invasive tournaments, and Oahu has had them in the past.”

Taape, toau and roi were introduced to Hawaii in the 1950s but have since multiplied to levels that now threaten native reefs.

After Sunday’s final weigh-in, the tournament wrapped up with a fish fry.