Permit proposed for Northwest islands fishing

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

Fishing within three miles of most of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands would require a state permit under rules proposed by the state Division of Aquatic Resources.

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources will be asked Friday to authorize public hearings on the proposed rules, which would establish a fisheries management area around all the emergent land in the region, except two of the atolls.

Midway is federally owned and not within state jurisdiction, so it is excluded. Additionally, no fishing would be allowed at French Frigate Shoals, the largest area for Hawaiian monk seal births and egg-laying by green sea turtles, said Bill Devick, administrator of the Division of Aquatic Resources.

Under the rules, a permit would be required for entry into the nearshore waters of the other islands, whether for fishing or scientific purposes. Those islands are Nihoa, Necker, Gardner Pinnacles, Maro Reef, Laysan, Lisianski, Pearl and Hermes Atoll, and Kure Atoll.