A state proposal to restrict the use of lay gillnets has angered some members of the Hawai'i fishing community who say it's unnecessary.

But others argue that the proposed restrictions being considered by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources — which include a ban on their use throughout Maui and specific areas of O'ahu and the Big Island — are needed to prevent irresponsible use of lay gillnets, which can snare fish indiscriminately.

Land-use officials say the restrictions are needed to protect near-shore fish populations, and it will be seeking public input on its proposal at hearings starting today.

"Over the years, we've recognized there has been a depletion of near-shore fish and that we need to take appropriate measures to stop that decline and work to improve our near-shore ecosystems and fisheries," said Peter Young, land board chairman.

The gillnets, also known as lay nets, set nets or moemoe nets, have floats at the top and weights at the bottom. Sometimes they're stretched from shore and other times in open water, like a chainlink fence made of monofilament nylon.

Fish try to swim through the eyes of the net and get tangled, usually by their gills.

"It is a fishing technique that is indiscriminate," Young said. "You set a net out there. It is not a technique. It can catch nearly anything swimming by."

There is concern that some fishermen leave the nets in place for extended periods — mostly at night — which leaves the nets free to snag and kill turtles and other species. Critics also complain that gillnets are too effective and are responsible for reducing overall fish populations.

They are sometimes called "the curtain of death," Young said.

When Fiji banned the nets a few years ago, near-shore fish populations increased, he said.

OTHER PROBLEMS

Young said that lay gillnets are part of a slew of problems — pollution, development, invasive species — that have contributed to declining populations. The proposed restrictions reflect what some communities want: Maui residents expressed an overwhelming desire for a ban, while Moloka'i residents expressed a similar desire to be left alone, he said.

"This is not anti-fishing. We're looking at the bigger, broader picture, and this is one tool that can help protect the ecosystem."

Carl Jellings is a 49-year-old commercial fisherman from Nanakuli who uses several methods to catch different kinds of fish and considers the lay net option his least favorite. He favors responsible use over a ban, but notes there are definitely lay net fishermen giving everyone a bad name.

"It's like giving a child a gun," Jellings said. "If you don't know how to use it, you will hurt someone."

A four-hour limit exists for nets like this, but Jellings said his nets are never in the water more than an hour. Leaving them any longer would be an invitation to sharks that would eat his catch and damage the nets, he said.

Jellings has copies of the proposed restrictions in his truck and has been giving them to fishermen along the Leeward Coast. He feels the practice is on the decline, but does know moemoe netters — fishermen who set their nets at night.

"They are all angry," he said. "The people making these rules don't know how this will affect the people who do this, especially the nighttime moemoe guys and the subsistence guys."

Neil Kanemoto, a fisherman who said he has listened often to the concerns of lay gillnet fishermen, said land-use officials are not respecting tradition.

"Lay nets are a part of the lifestyle in Hawai'i," Kanemoto said. "There can be a sustainable net fishery if the DLNR practices management. They don't need to close it all."

The DLNR noted in previous hearings that there is strong support for an outright ban, but also support for some flexibility in regulations. Some of its proposed changes were drawn from a state task force formed in 1998 to improve management of gillnets.

RESTRICTION LIMITS

The proposed restrictions would apply to commercial, recreational and subsistence fishing, but only to those gillnets generally known as lay nets or moemoe nets. It would not apply to other kinds of nets, including thrownets, fence or bag nets, aquarium or lobster nets, or akule or 'opelu nets.

In areas where they can be used, nets would have to be registered with the DLNR, with identification tags at both ends of the float line and the weight line, and buoys at either end that contain information on registration. Unregistered nets can be seized by state conservation agents.

Registration would help the state hold people who abandon their nets accountable for the damage they inflict, said fisherman William Aila Jr., who served on the task force.

If a net gets stuck on a reef, a fisherman will often just leave it, Aila said. But the net will continue to "ghost fish" for several days.

"It happens quite a bit with inexperienced net fisherman," he said. "This would allow enforcement. This would allow those irresponsible recreational fishermen to be held accountable. You would have to have it labeled. They could trace it back to you."

The rules propose that nets not exceed 125 feet in length and 7 feet in width when stretched. The minimum mesh size would be 2.75 inches in most of the state and 3 inches in Kailua Bay on the Big Island.

In areas where netting is allowed, the net owner could set only one net at a time and must be present at least every 30 minutes while nets are in the water. Turtles, seals or other unintended catch would have to be released immediately. There would be a four-hour limit on leaving nets in the water, and the nets could not be placed within 250 feet of another net. Lay nets would never be permitted in freshwater streams, stream mouths or at night.

The ban would apply to those areas of the Big Island where gillnets already are prohibited. All of Maui would be subject to the ban.

On O'ahu, the ban would apply to the area from Portlock Point to the west side of the Pearl Harbor channel, Kailua Bay from Mokapu Point to Wailea Point at the northern end of Bellows Air Force Station, and Kane'ohe Bay seaward of the main ship and sampan channels and Ahu o Laka.

LENGTH DISPUTED

Kailua fisherman Scott Moncrief currently sets his lay gillnets in waters where the practice would be banned but is more concerned about the net length restrictions. He said 125 feet of net, when it's actually deployed along the bottom, is really only 75 to 80 feet of fish-catching net.

Most people get around this by setting seven to 10 nets, something that would be forbidden under the proposed restrictions.

"It is gear on the bottom," Moncrief said. "Fish have to run into it. You generally lay it in a line and fish encounter it and get stuck. You need more than 75 to 80 feet because fish go around it."

Moncrief sells his catch, but it's more to supplement his income as an environmental consultant than a full-time job. He's been doing it for 20 years, carefully watching the weather conditions, which have to be just-so to be successful — light winds and surf and certain moon phases.

Closing areas is an extreme solution, he said, but agreed that there needs to be some form of regulation.

"To shut down and ban gillnetting won't affect the fish population," Moncrief said. "There simply aren't enough people doing it. There are very few people fishing with nets. It is too hard. People don't want to fish that way."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com and Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.