But they will not be able to block the emergency rule issued last month by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. The rule prohibits fishing from May 1 through Sept. 30 for seven popular deep-water species around the main Hawaiian Islands: onaga, ehu, gindai, kalekale, opakapaka, lehi and hapu'upu'u.

The regulations were ordered to prevent continued overfishing of the species while a long-term management program is implemented, according to the WesPac council.

The council, along with the state Division of Aquatics Resources and other agencies, will hold informational meetings on the closure begining Monday at 5 p.m. in the Lanai school cafeteria. A meeting on Maui will be held Thursday at 6 p.m. at Maui Community College, and a meeting on Molokai will be held at 4 p.m. April 24 at the Mitchell Pauole Center.

For Kihei bottom-fisherman James "Kimo" Gomes, the decision is "so frustrating" because he says the analysis only blames fishing by people for the depletion of fish species.

Probably one of the larger factors in the depletion of the primary commercial bottom fish is a smaller, introduced species, the taape, or bluestripe snapper, Gomes said. He said the government introduced taape, a native of the South Pacific, about 40 years ago as a potential commercial species that would occupy nearshore waters that were not productive.

But taape did not remain on the shorelines, Gomes said. They went "down deep" to the ocean floor.

"This fish is a predator, it eats the eggs and the babies and everything that our normal fish eat," Gomes said. "If you stop fishing in Hawaii for 100 years, you are not going to stop the problem."

The bottom-fishing ban will also affect isle restaurants that rely on fresh, locally caught fish such as the onaga and opakapaka. Mike Pascher, purchaser for Mama's Fish House in Kuau, said the restaurant that promotes the freshness of its fish might have to look at using imported bottom fish when the ban is in place.

"Right now it's wait and see," he said.

Mama's has a reputation for having fresh fish because it buys directly from local fishermen. Pascher said the restaurant buys around 1,600 pounds of fish every month, and he hardly ever turns away any of the prime bottom fish, onaga and opakapaka.

He said he knows the ban is based on good intentions. But he agreed with Gomes and other bottom-fishermen that "it's a little late" because taape are predators on young bottom fish, as well as competitors for crustaceans and other small fish on which the bigger snappers feed.

"That impacts the supply of bottom fish as much as overfishing," Pascher said.

He said he suspects that action taken by the WesPac council is a response to the evidence that the fish catch is down.

"It's maybe a little more for show than anything else," he said.

While bottom-fishermen like himself will need to look at other kinds of fish to chase, Gomes said the fish-eating public will be impacted as well. If they're eating opakapaka, onaga and other bottom-feeding snappers, he said, the fish will not be as fresh.

He said federal laws require the council to do something since there is evidence that fish populations are being depleted. But Gomes questioned the decisions that place the blame on human activity only.

When he goes fishing, he said he drops one line with three or four hooks.

"I'm not raking the bottom," he said.