Reports of mass harvesting of sea cucumbers off Oahu and Maui triggered alarm bells among conservationists and state officials, and for good reason. The invertebrates are the ocean’s earthworms, helping keep the nearshore ecosystem healthy. They are also food for marine predators. So it’s disturbing to learn that there may be a new commercial market for sea cucumbers that is triggering a large unregulated taking of the creatures from Hawaiian waters.

On June 26, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources will consider a 120-day moratorium on any taking of sea cucumbers until it can determine how big of a problem it’s dealing with. It’s a sensible precaution, even if the fears prove unwarranted. Better safe than sorry.

Council committee kicks the can down the road

Like Sisyphus with his rock, the decades-long debate over residential vacation rentals on Oahu feels like an eternity. On Thursday, the City Council Zoning and Planning Committee once again deferred two resolutions that would have established a certain number of new permits for bed-and-breakfast and transient vacation units, along with regulations to govern them. The measures were intended to bring some order to the underground visitor accommodations market, which has flourished in the three-decade absence of new vacation unit permits. Yes, better enforcement is needed. But in the meantime, allowing for controlled growth with proper taxation seems better than the current situation.