Fisherman Darrell Tanaka opposed the rule change on parking at a boating facility, which would be more of a hardship on commercial fishers who may be going out for more than a day at a time. He wondered what boat owners are to do if they go out and determine they need to stay out at sea for more than 24 hours.

"First of all, it targets only a specific harbor user. The guy who goes out fishing for more than 24 hours, whose life is hard as it is," Tanaka said.

Both Tanaka and Yoshikawa also questioned a provision that appeared to allow the department to set up paid parking zones at the small-boat harbors and ramps just by putting up signs without extensive review.

"It gives them too much flexibility," Tanaka said.

Howeth, who is active in the ocean recreation community and who has worked with state agencies to formulate harbor rules in the past, said the boating division needs to present a comprehensive rule package instead of proposing amendments here and there.

"We have a system in place that is working," Howeth said about Lahaina's parking rules, which grant permits for the harbor users.

"The state is going after money; they should spend their money wisely," said fisherman Brendan Au, who takes care of vessels at Mala Wharf and Lahaina boat harbor.

Dave Jung of SeaLink Hawaii, which operates the ferry system from Maui to Molokai, shares Au's sentiments.

"We really don't object to fees if they come back to the harbors. So many of the increase in fees go to other projects that don't benefit the harbor users," Jung said.

Current Lahaina harbor parking rules that provide for a priority system for issuing harbor parking permits (with the highest priority given to boat owners/masters of boats in the harbor) will be abolished, Underwood said.

"What we are trying to do is reference out the specific, generalize the rules so we can better manage the facility," he said.

The Lahaina parking rules are redundant, duplicating parking rules that establish the same criteria on who can get parking permits, he said.

What is not redundant is a current Lahaina Harbor rule that calls for a 10-minute loading zone. Underwood said the department could keep the loading zone in place but did not think it is necessary to include the specific provision in the proposed amended harbor rules.

"That's one of the questions we are being asked," he said. "We don't want to spell anything out."

He said if the Department of Land and Natural Resources included those types of specific rules, it would have to go through the full rule-making process again if it needed to change them.

But Underwood said that before anything major can happen at the small-boat harbors, there will be a public airing of the issues. Any administrative rules for DLNR agencies are subject to hearings and public review by the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

In responding to Yoshikawa's and Tanaka's concerns about the department establishing paid parking zones just by posting signs, Underwood said the department is already authorized to do that under current rules. But he said that before there is any move to set up pay parking at facilities, the department will have to go before the land board for approval.

Underwood said the change that will most affect boaters is the higher monthly fees for parking permits in place of quarterly fees. Another is the proposal to scale back the time on free parking at the harbors from 72 hours to 24 hours.

"It was hard for our enforcement to enforce the 72-hour rule," Underwood said.

But he said the department will increase the amount of allowed parking time for vehicles with permits to park five days in a row. Vehicles with a permit now can be parked at the small-boat harbor for only three days in a row, Underwood said.

Drivers without a permit who may be going on a boat for than a day have options, he said.

"You've got to make arrangements to park elsewhere or you need to could come down to the harbor office to get an extension permit," he said.

A boat owner could get an extension permit for crew members to stay longer at the harbors.

"We haven't normally provided single-vehicle parking," Underwood said.

He said the intent is to keep parking around the ramps at harbors for vehicles with trailers.

Underwood said the new time limit on parking would affect Kahului Harbor ramp users if they are parking their vehicles there and do not have a trailer attached to it. Those without trailers would be subject to the 24-hour parking rule as proposed, he said.