Saving Seafood

Group protests expanded protection of Papahanaumokuakea

July 18, 2016 — Congress wants to protect Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument even more.

But not everyone’s happy about it.

A group of fishermen, chefs and community leaders held a rally Friday against the proposed expansion, which would make the 200 miles around the Northwestern Hawaiian Island chain off-limits to fishermen.

The group says this would be detrimental to their way of life.

“Our purpose of this today is to send a message to our congregation in Washington and to our island-born president: hands off. Keep hands off. Keep us on the water and let us do what we do best,” said Jim Cook, Pop Fishing and Marine vice president.

Read the full story at KHON 2

PETER APO: Marine Monument Proposal Isn’t ‘Hawaiian’

July 15, 2016 — It has surprised me that several notable Hawaiian leaders joined conservation advocates to help trigger the request to President Obama to expand the boundaries of the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. I assume it means that they endorse the conservation model that underpins the global initiative to place 30 percent of the world’s oceans into marine reserves.

That conservation model is inconsistent with the traditional Hawaiian concepts of managing natural resources.

If the proposed monument expansion being advocated becomes law, the area that would be off-limits to fishing would dramatically balloon to 580,000 square miles, an area more twice the size of Texas.

The Western concept of conservation as a natural resource management strategy, if observed as actually practiced, seems based on two fundamental principles. The first is to “preserve” the area in perpetuity, protecting it from being used at all if possible. The second is to severely restrict humans from accessing the area, except perhaps for those who wish to study it.

The Hawaiian concept of conservation, or preservation or managing a natural resource – however you wish to characterize it – was never about closing out the resource forever. The traditional Hawaiian model would prefer planting a hillside in kalo (taro) as a productive, quality-of-life activity rather than adopting a model that would restrict access to the land simply to have it lie fallow. Indeed, by the time Captain Cook came to Hawaii in 1778, almost every bit of arable land was under cultivation, including such agriculturally marginal areas as the Kohala field system on the Big Island and Kahikinui on Maui.

Kapu Were Temporary

In practice, Hawaiians did invoke temporary kapu (restrictions) or closures in order to sustain or reinvigorate an environmental condition but always with the intention of returning it to a productive use and human access.

“Traditional Hawaiian fisheries management was carried out at a local level in sophisticated management schemes because biological processes that were the basis for management decisions often occurred on small geographical scales,” according to a 1923 Hawaiian-language article by Native Hawaiian fishing practitioner Z.P.K. Kawaikaumaiikamakaokaopua from Napoopoo.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

Feds Want Public Input On Marine Monument Expansion

July 15, 2016 — Federal officials plan to hold two public meetings next month — one on Oahu and the other on Kauai — to discuss the proposed expansion of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, according to a draft notice that’s expected to go out Friday.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii submitted a proposal June 16 that asks President Obama to consider using his executive authority to expand the monument fourfold around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The current 50-mile boundary around the islands, which President George W. Bush established in 2006, encompasses 139,800 square miles. Schatz’s proposed expansion out to 200 miles for most of the reserve would protect 582,578 square miles.

Commercial fishermen and restaurant owners have come out against the proposal, saying it restricts access to an area where fishermen catch on average 8 percent of their annual haul of bigeye tuna. 

Conservationists and scientists have said it’s critical to preserve this pristine area for the sake of the species that live there — known and yet to be discovered — as well as combating the effects of climate change.

Both sides have said they want a public input process to let the administration know what’s at stake. The process isn’t required by law, but it appears the feds have heard their call.

The first meeting is slated for 5 p.m., Aug. 1, at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu. The second is set for 4 p.m., Aug. 2, at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center. Both are anticipated to be three hours long.

Read the full story in the Honolulu Civil Beat

Eileen Sobeck Comments on Essential Fish Habitat

July 15, 2016 — Fish habitat earned legal respect 20 years ago when Congress added it to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the nation’s main fisheries law. We chatted about the role of Essential Fish Habitat with Eileen Sobeck, who has led NOAA Fisheries since 2014.

Why is habitat important to the fish we catch?

Fish aren’t just sitting there in the ocean waiting to be extracted. They are living in an environment, in a habitat, just like terrestrial species. To pretend that there will always be fish out there if their habitat is destroyed or polluted or otherwise compromised would be naïve.

What does habitat mean to you?

I’ve been snorkeling on coral reefs since childhood. I’ve been lucky enough to go diving and snorkeling all across the United States and the world. Just last month in Hawaii, I managed most mornings to go snorkeling outside my hotel. You can’t help but understand the concept of habitat supporting an entire ecosystem when you see a coral reef.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

GALEN MIZUGUCHI: Support fishermen

July 14, 2016 — I love fresh fish. Being born and raised in Hilo, it is only natural that I do. Ahi is a staple in our town. There is nothing like fresh poke at parties or sashimi on New Year’s Day.

It came as a surprise to me when I heard about the proposed expansion of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

We need to realize that this might have a huge effect on not just our state’s island culture, but it most likely will affect our economy as well.

As a state that relies heavily on tourism, why further cripple our economic stability by weakening the fishing industry, one of Hawaii’s only sustainable industries?

Read the full letter to the editor at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald

HAWAII: Longliners Have Nearly Pulled In Their 2016 Limit Of Bigeye Tuna

July 14, 2016 — Hawaii’s longline fleet is about to hit its 3,554-ton limit for bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific, prompting a closure date for the fishery of July 22, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The longliners had caught an estimated 98 percent of their annual quota by Wednesday, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service reported. The feds had been predicting longliners would hit their bigeye tuna limit by Aug. 14.

But the closure will likely be short-lived thanks to a federal rule that proposes, like in years past, allowing U.S. Pacific Island territories — American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands — to each allocate up to 1,000 tons of their 2,000-ton quotas to U.S. longliners under a “specified fishing agreement.”

In April, the Hawaii Longline Association reached such an agreement with the Marianas that involves paying the territory $250,000 in each of the next three years for up to half of its quota. That’s $50,000 more than the association paid the territory last year.

The money is deposited into the Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund, which the territories use for fishery development projects approved by their respective governors, according to Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council spokeswoman Sylvia Spalding. These includes boat ramps, fish markets, processing facilities, training programs and loan programs.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

PETER APO: Can We Talk About Papahanaumokuakea?

July 11, 2016 — My previous column raised concerns over the request to President Obama to expand the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

I start this column by clarifying for readers my perspective regarding marine conservation and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

I do join most people of Hawaii in generally supporting the establishment of the existing Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush.

In the hours I’ve spent researching the monument-expansion request from every possible angle, I have been frustrated that the search for answers only led to more questions.

The one thing that became clear is that given the complexity of all the moving parts of the Papahanaumokuakea issue, I would have to leave any deep dive for another day and spare you the confusion.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat 

Tagging Ahi Tuna in the Western Pacific

July 5, 2016 — A respected research professor, scientist and part-time resident has been on Kauai for several weeks coordinating the latest phase of a tuna tagging project launched on Kauai and the Big Island three years ago.

Dr. Molly Lutcavage is a research professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston’s School for the Environment. She is also director of the Large Pelagic Research Center and is renowned for her extensive work with the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing community.

The Ahi Satellite Tagging Project of the Pacific Island Fisheries Group is a joint venture that uses state-of-the art technology and partners fisheries organizations, policy makers and local fishermen in the effort to gather much-needed baseline data on ahi and other pelagic fish that live and migrate in waters surrounding the main Hawaiian islands and beyond.

“There’s very little information on these patterns for ahi in this region,” Lutcavage said.

“Most of PSAT or data logging tags on ahi were deployed in the eastern and western Pacific, so the Hawaiian islands remain a ‘data poor’ area as far as high-tech tag results,” she added.

Last week, six large yellowfin tuna (ahi) were tagged with pop-up satellite tags and released in waters off Kauai. If all goes well, the tags will collect data that will help identify their migration routes and behavior for one year, Lutcavage said.

Read the full story at the Garden Island

PETER APO: Obama Should Say No To Expanded Marine Monument

June 27, 2016 — President Obama is considering a request to more than quadruple the size of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to 580,000 square miles – an area as large as the states of Texas, California and Montana.

If Obama takes this step, the federal government essentially would assert control over hundreds of thousands of miles of ocean around Hawaii with no public discussion.

According to the Antiquities Act of 1906, the trigger to designate an area as a national monument is simply the president’s signature. No discussion required — not by Congress, not by state government and not by citizens who rely on the targeted geo-cultural area.

The Big Picture

The push to expand the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is part of a larger global strategy to bring millions of square miles of the world’s oceans under a common umbrella of environmental protective governance that would designate vast expanses as marine sanctuaries, monuments or conservation areas.

The intent of such a sweeping global objective seems noble, given global warming and the degradation of the ocean environment. No doubt we need to manage our ocean resources better. But the zealousness with which a loose global coalition of ultra-conservative scientists and marine environmentalists are pushing to create new marine conservation areas is imposing draconian restrictions on human access to vast expanses of the ocean.

These restrictions work by installing a gatekeeper permit application process subject to a blanket of government regulations, some of which don’t make sense.

For instance, in Hawaii’s Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument, Native Hawaiians can practice subsistence fishing. So Hawaiians, with a conditional permit, can access the area and fish – but they have to eat the fish before leaving the zone to go home.

To this writer, clearly the analysis of the ultra-conservative wing of marine conservation scientists and environmentalists is: The less human access, the better.

The Long Shadow of Uncle Sam

The federal government already controls access to 850 square miles of Hawaii’s lands and is the second largest land owner in Hawaii. The inventory of lands under federal control, either by lease or title, includes some of the most important historic, cultural and strategically positioned lands, inland waterways and coastal waters in the state.

The list includes Pearl Harbor, Hickam Field, Bellows Air Force Station, Kaneohe Marine base, Pohakuloa Training Area, upper reaches of Waimea Valley, Pililaau Army Recreation Center, Lualualei Naval ammunition depot, Fort Shafter, Tripler Army Medical Center, Camp H.M. Smith, Wheeler Army Airfield, Makua Valley, Volcanoes National Park, Haleakala National Park and a number of other less high-profile locations.

To this writer, as onerous as the degree of federal control over Hawaii lands might be, it pales compared to the tightening of the federal grip on hundreds of thousands of square miles of Hawaii’s Northwestern seas being put on the table by the request to expand the current boundaries of Papahanaumokuakea.

Read the full opinion piece at the Honolulu Civil Beat

Proposal would expand marine conservation area in Northwest Hawaiian islands

June 17, 2016 — U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz is proposing to expand one of the world’s largest marine conservation areas in a way that preserves some fishing grounds for local fishermen.

The proposal submitted to President Barack Obama today would make the monument near Hawaii the largest protected marine area in the world.

It reflects a smaller protected area than what was originally sought by Native Hawaiians, who consider the remote islands, atolls and coral reefs found within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument sacred.

“I think it’s a really good compromise to help alleviate some of the concerns that were raised on Kauai by the fishing community about their access to the waters that are surrounding Papahanaumokuakea,” said Sol Kahoohalahla, a member of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group, which pushed for expansion.

Even so, important fishing grounds would still be lost, said Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association, which includes about 140 vessels. About 8 to 12 percent of the fish caught by Hawaii longline fishermen comes from waters in the proposed protected area, he said.

“We’ve been operating there for many, many decades and the place is still pristine,” Martin said. “I’m sorry but I don’t get it.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser