Monk seals around main islands would help nobody but NOAA

Recently on OLELO TV, I was shocked to see a spokesperson from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in front of a legislative committee presenting NOAA’s move to introduce more monk seals into the main Hawaiian islands.

I strongly oppose such, and suggest numerous reasons why others should oppose this dangerous move as well.

I had attended the NOAA presentation on the move of monk seals to the main Hawaiian islands in September at Central Union Church. Some observations from that evening:

» The sides were divided along an obvious line: local versus outside disputes.

» From its slide presentation, NOAA views a fisherman as simply someone with two spinning rods dunking along a sandy beach.

» NOAA fails to understand the potential for interaction with traps, nets and divers. Let’s not forget that when the seals learn, they can find tako (octopus) at ulua fishing locations still soaking on hooks at dawn.

» NOAA does not foresee any interaction with surfers, boaters, etc. Imagine the uproar when a seal beaches itself with a surfer’s skeg cut through its back.

» NOAA cautiously avoids any comparisons with California — its sea mammals and their interaction with boaters and people.

» The attempt at gaining sympathy by showing a monk seal with a shark bite backfired. By adding more seals to the main Hawaiian islands, Jaws will be lured toward shore, and this will endanger both surfers and swimmers.

» NOAA claims no new fishing regulations will appear. But that’s not its job. All that’s needed would be a few seals crawling up onto the Oahu beaches with ulua hooks in their mouths and the seal-hugging public will pressure the state Department of Land and Natural Resources — not NOAA — to restrict fishing.

» Divers tether their catch on a line behind them. More likely than not, seals would be lured to these fish, resulting in a conflicting interaction.

» It would be of value to understand if seals would go after a struggling fish or tako on the end of a diver’s spear.

» Adding wild animals to an urban population of a million people is foolish. Imagine parents having to watch keiki in the surf for fear of a seal attack.

» The cultural impacts of this monk seal move is never considered. Tako is a celebratory food in Hawaii served at weddings, parties and graduations all year round. Therefore, Hawaii divers hunt tako all year long. Yet NOAA never did the simple math that there would be less tako in the main Hawaii islands for monk seals than in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands due to this cultural demand for tako — or was NOAA planning on having DLNR reduce the divers’ take of tako?

Also, tako divers put their catch in a mesh bag tethered very close to their bodies. A seal attacking the mesh bag would endanger the diver and force the diver to defend himself with the spear.

Auwe! The feds kicked fishermen out of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and now they want to expand their oversight and regulations to the main Hawaiian islands’ coasts and waters. One wonders if the hidden agenda of NOAA might be that the more the public sees of the seals basking on sandy beaches, the more likely they will support funding for additional NOAA staff in the long run. This might be the justification for not "fishing down" the ulua and shark stock in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

I vote no to adding wild animals into a population of a million people, and giving NOAA the authority over both our coasts and waters within the 3-mile state limit.

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William J. King, a Honolulu fisherman, is a member of several fishing clubs, past and present.