February 5, 2026 — Hawaii’s formerly endangered green sea turtle population has rebounded in recent decades, with the species now a common sight along the state’s beaches. While the increased populations have benefited tourism, with visitors gathering on beaches to take photos of the animals, some Native Hawaiians are asking when they, too, will be allowed to benefit from the rising population by harvesting turtles for food.
“A lot of people, they think it’s a bad thing, you know, especially, like, the outsiders that not from here,” Native Hawaiian fisherman Miki Duvauchelle told SFGATE. “They come over here and you know, they just want to put all these laws, all these protections, and it’s like, ‘Hey, it’s a source of food, just like a fish.’”
Fifty-year-old Duvauchelle was born and raised on Molokai. The island has no large resorts, and its residents have a history of resisting development and overtourism. There’s no Costco or McDonald’s, and grocery stores are limited. Residents, he said, largely rely on subsistence living — hunting, fishing and gathering for their families.
“It was a blanket listing, so it didn’t consider at the time the importance of turtle use in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. It didn’t look at any of that cultural importance,” Asuka Ishizaki, the protected species coordinator for the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, told SFGATE. The council is one of eight regional councils managing federal waters, and it has long advocated for the cultural harvesting of Hawaii’s turtles while still prohibiting them from commercial fishing or sale.
Ishizaki said the endangered species listing lumped long-standing cultural practices with commercial exploitation, creating a tension that continues today.
“You going to get arrested and go to court, and no matter what you do, they going to find fault with you and put you in jail, charge a big fine, whatever, and that is something that we cannot control. This ban is part of their control,” Kelson “Mac” Poepoe, a 76-year-old Molokai resident, told SFGATE.