Honolulu – The dropping of the Formosa’s anchor on coral in Kailua Bay on Hawai‘i island in October 2018 has resulted in the luxury yacht owners being ordered to pay $100,000 to the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), which will go to supporting coral reef management and restoration in West Hawai‘i.
The State Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) voted last Friday to approve the settlement agreement with the Formosa Wealth Management Group (FWM), owners of the 197-foot luxury yacht. DAR informed the board that a prosecution against FWM could provide difficult because it operates under a foreign flag.
DAR’s submittal to the BLNR showed the vessel violated Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules by breaking and damaging approximately 431 coral colonies of stony coral and approximately 150-square feet of live rock, when the Formosa dropped anchor in the Kailua Bay Zone of the Kona Coast Fishery Management Area.
Damages included whole massive coral colonies broken along the base and overturned; breakage of attached/live coral colonies, characterized by bright white chunks of coral dislodged from live coral colonies and lying nearby; and areas of shattered finger coral (Porites compressa), with branches piled together and white coral skeleton exposed at the breakage point at the bottom of the branches. Stony coral species that were impacted included: Yellow mound coral (Porites lobata), Finger coral (Porites compressa), Smooth mound coral (Porites evermanni), Plate-and-pillar coral (Porites rus), Rice coral (Genus Montipora), and live rock.
Employees of Big Island Watersports observed the Formosa’s anchor was not properly set and documented the presence of recently broken coral in the immediate area. DAR aquatic biologists were made aware of the incident by employees of the Atlantis Submarine who also witnessed and documented damage. After anchoring on the reef, the boat later moved into deeper
