When state Sen. Clayton Hee set about trying to protect the state's 'opihi populations, he thought he might be taking a political risk.

So did some Senate colleagues, who refused his requests to co-sign Senate Bill 2006, which would ban the commercial sale of the crunchy limpet.

But when he introduced the bill and a story about it appeared in The Advertiser, the public reaction stunned him.

"I was shocked. I got nothing but support," said Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku), who also has introduced a bill to prohibit the commercial sale of wild-caught female spiny lobster, kona crab and Samoan crab (see story on B3).

Here at the newspaper, we got a lot of that, too. It turns out that lots of residents are sick and tired of going out to search for 'opihi for special family occasions and finding there's none to be had.

"Here in Hana, we support the commercial ban because we don't even have enough for our tables and cultural practices," said Kimo Kekahuna, of Maui. He said outsiders often come to Hana to fish, and then sell their catch. "Commercial fishing threatens (the) way of life here," he said.

Big Island resident Tony Sylvester had similar concerns. "I used to pick 'opihi in the 1970s here on the Big Island and I can tell you this: The 'opihi population is wiped out. I take my boys shoreline fishing and you see nothing in places that was once abundant," he said.

Sylvester said people from other islands come to the remote places of the Big Island to scrape 'opihi off the rocks.

"It is worse than people can imagine," he said. "I stopped picking 'opihi in the 1990s because I could see the population die off."

Sylvester said that Hee's proposal may not go far enough: "We need a total ban for at least three years to see if the 'opihi can recover. It may be too late already."

Some folks hate the concept but don't see many other choices.

Sandra Pang of O'ahu works at a fish market. She doesn't like the idea of a commercial ban but recognizes the problem. 'Opihi is so scarce it is very expensive — as much as $15 to $20 a pound, she said. And there's pressure on people going for 'opihi to come home with something, even when there's little legal-size product around. "I can't see people scraping when they're too small," she said.

Hee said he hopes that taking the cash out of the 'opihi trade will permit some recovery of the stocks of the three edible 'opihi species, and that families can return to collecting 'opihi for subsistence use.

If you have a question or concern about the Hawaiian environment, drop a note to Jan TenBruggencate at P.O. Box 524, Lihu'e, HI 96766 or jant@honoluluadvertiser.com. Or call him at (808) 245-3074.