The Many Faces Of Fish Feeding In Hawaii

Nobody claims to be selling or promoting fish feeding in dive and snorkel shops in Hawaii, but you wouldn't know it after a walk through several shops on Maui and the Big Island. The collection of images in this post are from two weeks of snooping around dive shops as well as convenience stores in Kona, Hawaii, and Kihei and Lahaina, Maui. Sometimes the food was marketed near the snorkels and dive masks. Other stores placed it next to the Sex Wax. If I didn't see the food on shelves, I'd ask a clerk if they sold food. At one shop I was told that not only did they not sell fish food, but none of the other chains did either. A walk down the street to the next franchise proved otherwise.





The packaged food is taken into the water by snorkelers or divers interested in attracting aggregations of hungry fish habituated to human feeding. The unintended results from this activity are increased frequency of bites from overly aggressive species as well as reduced herbivory of algal growth on reefs in some areas.

What is it about the need to feed wildlife? The smart choice as a consumer (for your safety and those of reef fish) is to not buy fish food. It's entirely unnecessary for experiencing an already amazing spectacle of vibrant and healthy reef fish. And as a business, don't even present the consumer with a choice in the first place. And while you're at it, feel good about your sustainable marketing and join the growing collection of businesses and individuals who have taken the pledge to end fish feeding of reef fish through our Take a Bite Out of Fish Feeding Campaign. It's an opportunity to do the right thing, and receive some positive recognition for the effort.