Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative  Research Program 
Year 5
Project # Z616358
The assessment of hull fouling as a mechanism for the introduction and dispersal of 
marine alien species in the main Hawaiian Islands. 

Surveys of Hull Fouling
1. Introduction
Surveys for adult invertebrates that were part of the hull fouling communities were 
done to determine to what extent marine AIS are being transported in this fashion. The 
focus was to perform a qualitative analysis that created a species inventory. 
The organisms that generally foul vessel hulls are the typical species found in 
natural marine intertidal and subtidal fouling communities. These organisms are usually 
associated with one of the following groups: porifera (sponges), coelenterata (hydroids, 
corals and anemones), mollusca (mussels, clams, and sea slugs), annelida (marine 
worms), arthropoda (barnacles, amphipods, and crabs), bryozoa (moss animals), chordata 
(sea squirts and fish), as well as macroalgae (seaweed). 
Through collaboration with state and private industry representatives, arrivals 
notification for various vessel types was received. This arrivals information was used to 
schedule field survey activities throughout the study.

2. Methodology 
Sampling:
Port Arrivals
1)	Identify vessel for survey 
A)	Commercial vessel  consult vessel arrival schedules maintained by State of 
Hawaii Department of Transportation, Harbors Division
B)	Personal Craft  consult with harbor master of public or privately owned 
marinas to provide arrivals information. 
Public marinas: State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural 
Resources, Division of Boating and Ocean Resources
Private marinas: consult marinas listing in Hawaii Ocean Industry and 
Shipping News publication
2)	Contact vessel owner/operator to obtain particulars (ie. Last port, vessel maintenance 
records.) and permission to conduct hull survey
A)	Commercial vessel  either directly or  through the shipping agent
B)	Personal Craft  speak directly to owner/operator
3)	Survey entire hull from bow to stern on port and starboard sides with SCUBA and 
collect a representative sample of all taxonomic groups present.
4)	Record the overall percent cover of fouling in each of the following sections of the 
vessel:
A)	Bow
B)	Midship
C)	Stern
D)	Prop and rudder 
E)	Above the water line

Compilation of arrival patterns and vessel operation dynamics 

1. Introduction
The objective of this aspect of the field component was to create a profile for the 
last port of call for specific overseas arrivals. The specific vessels for which information 
was gathered were overseas cargo barges, foreign fishing boats and overseas personal 
craft. 

2. Methodology
There were three separate data sources for these vessel types. The overseas cargo 
barges and foreign fishing boat arrivals information was obtained through the State of 
Hawaii Department of Transportation, Harbors Division. Overseas personal craft arrivals 
had to be further divided into those arriving from domestic ports and those arriving from 
foreign ports. Data for domestic port arrivals exists with the State of Hawaii Department 
of Agriculture, Plant and Animal Quarantine and Inspection Division. The U.S. Customs 
Service collects information on the arrival of overseas personal craft from foreign ports. 
The information for both agencies existed in hand-written logs, and permission was 
secured to allow access. The logs from May 2001 through June 2003 for both types of 
arrivals were entered into a spreadsheet format for analysis. The arrivals information for a 
two year period of time was analyzed for all the target vessel types. The overseas barges 
and foreign fishing boat arrivals data was from a data set obtained for the two year period 
of time from January 1997 through December 1998. This data set was from the daily 
arrivals logs for Honolulu Harbor and Kalaeloa Barber's Point Harbor for this period and 
was entered prior to this project. An analysis of recent data revealed that the arrivals data 
for this period was still characteristic of both harbors, so this data set was used instead of 
re-entering a new set. The data for overseas arrivals of personal craft was separated by 
domestic and foreign arrivals for the purpose of presentation and analysis of temporal 
trends. A temporal trend analysis was not done for the overseas barges or foreign fishing 
boats since they are on more regular commercial schedules.
Last port of call information for the overseas barges and foreign fishing boats was 
non-specific in some case so the presentation scheme to categorize this information was 
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ocean regions. All but a 
few of the records of personal craft included specifics on last port of call, which allowed 
more specific data to be presented on last port of call. 
Finally, a brief narrative of the spectrum of the operational dynamics of each vessel 
type was developed. This narrative will examine the activities of each vessel type to 
qualitatively determine if there are additional concerns that relate the marine AIS.

