Dear Wal-Mart...

Remember these things in the picture to the left? They're packages of fish food sold throughout the Hawaiian Islands (and elsewhere) so snorkelers along coastal reefs can attract clouds of colorful fish. Problem is they not only attract fish, but also distract fish, especially grazing fish that play an important role in controlling algal growth on reefs. Fed fish are also aggressive fish and bathers and snorkelers are increasingly subjected to painful bites. A few months ago I wrote about how CORAL and our Hawaii-based partners have been working on a variety of fronts to educate tourists and local tourism businesses against fish feeding.

But now we're working another part of the supply chain. Wal-Mart's and Longs Drugs are two of the largest retail chains throughout Hawaii that sell fish food. We're targeting store managers and buyers with environmental messaging in an effort to convince them to remove fish food from store shelves. We plan to approach corporate level decision makers with the evidence of environmental disturbances from fish feeding as well as messages from local Hawaiian communities who want to preserve a natural reef experience where visitors treat the marine environment with respect. We've got an opportunity with 2008 as International Year of the Reef to help these retailers to do the right thing and position themselves as leaders.

CORAL Hawaii Field Manager Liz Foote was in Lahaina town all day conducting a series of meetings to begin the process of collecting community feedback. Here's a sample of some of the effort. Great work, folks!