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Article: Protecting hawaii's coral reefs at all costs.(Front)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- August 3, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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HONOLULU
Wrecking coral will cost you in Hawaii. A Maui tour company is paying the state nearly $400,000 for damaging more than 1,200 coral colonies when one of its boats sank at Molokini, a pristine reef and popular diving spot. Another tour operator faces penalties for wrecking coral when it illegally dropped an anchor on a Maui reef .
The state plans to sue the Navy to seek compensation for coral ruined when a guided missile cruiser the length of two football fields ran aground near Pearl Harbor in February.
The state began issuing fines two years ago as part of its efforts to punish those who damage a resource critical to Hawaii's fragile ...