Sometimes, the actions of the few demand stricter rules than the majority of law-abiding citizens require. Such is the case with the continuing violation of regulations governing lay gill nets used for fishing.

The endangered state of Hawai'i's inshore fisheries demands stronger action from the state, years earlier than officials may want to take it.

That action is a complete ban on the use of these modern monofilament nets, which are weighted in place and left for hours. Recently adopted rules include four-hour time limits for leaving nets in place and 30-minute limits for leaving them unattended.

This is a difficult restriction to enforce, given staffing limitations of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. A total of 114 enforcement officers work for DLNR statewide, responding to 50 to 100 calls per day on various resource violations. Expecting them to monitor and catch users exceeding time limits is unrealistic.

The harmful effects these large nets have on a precious resource are alarming.

A recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration highlighted an important statistic: Of 55 reef fish species tracked nearshore around the principal Hawaiian Islands, 75 percent were depleted or critically overfished.

This underscores the urgent need for a change in course.

When the new rules went into effect a year ago, after statewide meetings with fishing professionals and enthusiasts, DLNR planned to wait as long as five years before deciding on further restrictions.

But based on anecdotal reports — people setting nets during stormy weather or late at night, when enforcement is least likely — this approach isn't working.

It's realistic to expect that keeping the status quo will damage some fisheries that won't be able to recover. The nets not only contribute to indiscriminate overfishing but they also are sometimes abandoned, continuing to kill fish and damage their habitat.

There are 2,200 registered lay nets in the state. If violators aren't deterred by the threat of a possible $3,000 fine, there's not much that a relatively small enforcement crew can do to keep all of the net users in line, not to mention unregistered nets.

Instead, it's time to follow the lead of every other coastal state and ban them outright, while we still have fisheries that can be saved.