Hawai‘i Invasive Species Roundup: Island fishers can win $5K in prizes doing what they love

Fishermen, women and keiki throughout the Hawaiian Islands can compete to win prizes totaling $5,000 throughout the next six weeks – by joining the statewide Hawai‘i Invasive Species Roundup.

The contest is free. Participants will use MyCatch, a mobile app by the website Angler’s Atlas, to measure, photograph and record their catches.

Eligible fish include roi, or peacock grouper; ta‘ape, or bluestripe snapper; to‘au, or blacktail snapper; and tilapia. Data collected throughout the Invasive Species Roundup will be presented in mid-September at the 154th annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Honolulu.

“MyCatch is a mobile app that we use to collect citizen science data from anglers and people that like to go fishing,” said Sean Simmons, founder and president of MyCatch and Angler’s Atlas. “Biologists, especially in the fisheries world, are always struggling to get enough data on the state of our fisheries.”

The MyCatch app aims to improve fisheries research and management by turning to the fishermen who ply the streams, lakes, bays and oceans of North America – and now Hawai‘i. Recently, a MyCatch fishing challenge collected data used by state agencies throughout the American Midwest to inform a walleye management plan.

“The idea is that they can play a meaningful role in the conservation and research and management of fish species,” Simmons said of fishermen. “Anglers are the ones leading the charge to support fisheries research, management and conservation.”

The 2024 Hawai‘i Invasive Species Roundup is MyCatch’s first foray into Hawaiian waters, as well as its first contest geared toward spearfishing (although rod-and-reel fishing is permitted as well).

Prize categories are divided by species and include prizes for longest and shortest fish, as well as “hidden length” and keiki prizes. The contest is also split into four regions: Big Island, Kaua‘i, O‘ahu and Molokai, Maui and Lanai. Leaderboards will reveal which area’s fishermen are the most successful.

Certain Kaua‘i and Big Island fishermen who pursue ‘ahi, or yellowfin tuna, are no strangers to scientific collaboration. Several are spending the summer trialing first-of-their-kind tags intended to change how fish are studied.

This year’s American Fisheries Society meeting is dedicated to the theme, “Conserving Fishes and Fishing Traditions through Knowledge Co-Production.”

The event running from Sept. 15 through 19 will feature sessions dedicated to a wide swath of topics including – but not limited to – Indigenous fisheries stewardship, shark deterrent technologies, sonar techniques, genomics research and preventing harm from abandoned, lost or derelict fishing gear.

A Stakeholder Engagement Day will be held Sept. 17. Simmons invites all Hawai‘i fishermen to attend.

“If anglers are interested to come out and sit down and see some presentations on how anglers and fishers are supporting fisheries research and science, all folks are welcome,” he said. “We’ll do an award ceremony at the end of that night.”

Nearly 260 fishermen have already registered for the 2024 Hawaii Invasive Species Roundup. For more information – including rules, instructions and prize categories – click here.