Posted on: Friday, January 21, 2005
Proposed rules to be outlined for NW Hawaiian Islands fishery
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
Several alternatives for regulating the fisheries of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands will be presented around the state in public meetings next week by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.
Hearings of proposed fishery rules for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on the following days:
Monday, Maui Beach Hotel, Kahului. Tuesday, Kamakahelei Middle School, Lihu'e. Wednesday, Ala Moana Hotel, Honolulu. Thursday, Naniloa Hotel, Hilo.
Next Friday, King Kamehameha Hotel, Kona.To download a summary of the fishery alternatives, visit www.wpcouncil.org. The regulations would eventually be included as part of the establishment of a proposed national marine sanctuary for the islands, atolls and reefs of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Those islands are older than the main Hawaiian Islands, and all are managed as wildlife refuges by either the state or the federal government. While there has been commercial fishing in the region, the fishing pressure has been much lower than in the main islands, and scientists say the assemblage of marine life there may represent a model of what Hawaiian coastal waters might once have looked like.
Some alternatives would prohibit the harvesting of precious corals and lobsters, as well as longline fishing, within the entire region — a 100-mile-wide stretch of ocean extending 1,200 miles from beyond Kaua'i to just past Kure Atoll. Other alternatives would have extremely restrictive preservation zones in specific areas, but would allow more fishing activity in others.
To download a summary of the fishery alternatives, visit www.wpcouncil.org. The fisheries council is to select one of the alternatives at its meetings scheduled March 14 to 17. That selection, if approved by the secretary of commerce, will become part of the draft environmental impact statement that is being prepared for the marine sanctuary.
Randy Kosaki, acting administrator of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, said the draft impact statement is expected to be released for public comment in late summer.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
They range from the regulatory framework to complex scenarios that involve a mix of no-fishing zones, areas where commercial fishing would be prohibited, areas where Native Hawaiian, recreational and subsistence fishing would be allowed, and other alternatives.
Hearings set in Four counties
One alternative, for example, would set preservation areas from Pearl and Hermes Atoll to Kure, and around French Frigate Shoals, where no taking of marine life would be permitted. Under that option, the remaining areas — including the waters around Nihoa, Mokumanamana, Laysan, Gardner Pinnacles and Lisianski — would be less restrictive.
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