Residents of Molokai are seeking protected status for a subsistence fishing area on the island’s coast.

Molokai residents have monitored the north shore for more than 20 years and are pushing for a community-based subsistence fishing area designation from the state, the Maui News reported. Such a designation wouldn’t prevent fishing and gathering, but it would place restrictions on catching the most threatened species.

Molokai homesteader Kilia Purdy-Avelino said she takes her homeschooled children to the north shore to see the marine life every Wednesday. She said kids might think there are plenty of fish, so she enlists the help of longtime conservationist Kelson “Uncle Mac” Poepoe to provide perspective.

“What we see might look like plenty to us, but we have nothing to compare it with,” Purdy-Avelino said. “If we wait 40 years down the road to realize that the fish and our resources are depleting, it’s going to be too late.”

A recent series of public meetings on Molokai and the islands of Oahu and Maui have paved the way for an official rule-making process. Supporters on Maui said Wednesday that the time is ripe for a designation.

Water warnings removed on Big Island

Water quality warnings have been lifted at Kahaluu Beach Park and Magic Sands in Kailua-Kona, the state Health Department announced Saturday.

Water-sample testing results show that the enterococci levels no longer exceed advisory levels, the department said. The source of the contamination was unknown.