State seeks to restrict fishing off Ni'ihau to residents of island

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The state is proposing to establish the waters and reefs around Ni'ihau as a no-fishing zone, allowing residents of the privately owned island to get permits for subsistence fishing only.

It is a controversial issue on Kaua'i and Ni'ihau. Many Kaua'i boaters regularly cruise the shores of Ni'ihau, where the fishing is better. Ni'ihau residents complain that off-island boats catch the fish right off the reefs in front of their Pu'uwai village homes.

West Kaua'i boat clubs are preparing a strong protest for public meetings to be held on the proposed rules. But Ni'ihau residents also may be unhappy, since the rules would place new restrictions on their own activities and require them to obtain a permit to fish.

One Kaua'i fisherman, Lance Yamaguchi of Kapa'a, said the fishing community will fight the ban. "I'm totally against it," he said.

Yamaguchi said Ni'ihau fishing is an important resource for Kaua'i boaters, both for subsistence fishing and to collect food for special events such as baby lu'au and graduation parties. "It's a means for us to provide for our families," he said.

Yamaguchi said he has seen people from Kaua'i picking 'opihi, throwing or laying nets, trolling and spearfishing off Ni'ihau, but much of that is occurring in remote areas that the island's residents don't appear to use. "Those areas that we go are not even accessible by them," he said.

Most Ni'ihau residents fish from shore or from small boats, but they insist they use their island's entire coastline, even its rugged areas.

The new rules are the result of a May meeting between Gov. Linda Lingle and residents of Ni'ihau, which is about 17 miles off the west coast of Kaua'i. The residents complained that fishing boats from other islands were aggressively fishing the Ni'ihau reefs and reducing their ability to maintain a subsistence fishery.

The new rules would allow no outside fishing, and no sale or barter of Ni'ihau-caught fish by Ni'ihau residents. Only those actually living on the island of about 200 people would qualify for permits, and they would be required to report all catch results to the state Division of Aquatic Resources.

Division administrator Bill Devick, in a letter to the BLNR, said the governor's office asked his office to "propose rulemaking to specifically preserve the fishing rights of the island residents and to provide them with the ability to gather food from the ocean that surrounds the islands of Ni'ihau and Lehua."

The board will be asked at its meeting tomorrow to authorize the Division of Aquatic Resources to hold public meetings on the rules.

The proposed regulations would ban all fishing from the high-water mark to the 20-fathom depth, the equivalent of 120 feet. The rules draw a line midway between Ni'ihau and Lehua, an islet to the north, with the fishing ban extending from that line to Ni'ihau's shore.

Ni'ihau residents would be eligible to get a permit, which they must carry with them any time they go fishing. They must use legal fishing methods and report monthly to the state on all fish taken.

The department retains the right to suspend permits to protect public welfare or to protect and conserve marine resources.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.