Starting on May 15 and ending Oct. 1, it will be against federal and state law to fish for, possess or sell seven commonly caught deep-bottomfish species from the main Hawaiian Islands.

Known as the "Deep 7," they consist of onaga or 'ula'ula koa'e (long-tail snapper), 'opakapaka (pink snapper), 'ehu (squirrelfish snapper), hapuupuu (seabass), lehi (sliver jaw jobfish), gindai (snapper) and kalekale (snapper). If any of these fish are caught incidentally, they must immediately be returned to the ocean.

The intended effective date of this seasonal closure has been changed from the previously announced May 1 to Oct. 1 to accommodate administrative processing of the regulations. The Hawai'i Board of Land and Natural Resources last week approved the state regulations and sent them to a state office for filing. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council voted for the federal measures on March 15. They were then forwarded through the National Marine Fisheries Service to the Secretary of Commerce for approval.

During the closure, fishing for, and possession of, Deep 7 bottomfish species is prohibited 0-200 nautical miles from shore surrounding the islands. The new regulations also prohibit the sale of Deep 7 bottomfish in Hawai'i during the closure, unless the fish were caught legally in the federally permitted Northwestern Hawaiian Islands bottomfish fishery or can be documented as legally imported. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands bottomfish fishery is managed under a federal limited-entry program and catch quotas; therefore, it is not subject to these rules.

This seasonal closure reflects coordinated state-federal regulations implemented to eliminate overfishing of these deep-water bottomfish in the islands. These rules will be cooperatively enforced by the state of Hawai'i Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement, National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard.

"This cooperative effort between the state and federal governments is a bold, sweeping action," Edwin Ebisui, vice chair of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, said in a news release issued today. The Council is the policy-making organization for fisheries management in federal waters (generally 3-200 miles offshore) of Hawai'i, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and other U.S. Pacific Islands.