Ocean recreation must be managed

In Hawaii the beaches and nearshore waters are considered a community resource, perhaps to a greater extent than in most other places. That is why the state has a duty to manage its use, in the interest of public safety as well as ensuring that the public has a reasonable opportunity to enjoy recreation there.

What the state is seeking, and ought to be able to find, is a middle ground where it meets its oversight responsibility without succumbing — and subjecting all the commercial vendors — to the sheer weight of bureaucracy.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources has custody over commercial ocean recreation and is trying to revise its rules to make them fairer and to support its regulatory function with fee revenue. The rules deal with how commercial use permits are issued for various uses, establish limits on berthing space commercial vessels can use at various harbors, clarify insurance requirements, set fees and charges and perform other functions.

Taking this occasion to update rules is essential because pressures on the recreational resources have increased with rising visitor counts and stakeholders have to weigh in on whether certain limits still make sense (see box).

But with all this added pressure, the state has fallen behind on its program of requiring recreational instructors to pass written and surf tests. These have affected catamaran and canoe captains, surf instructors, sailboard instructors and commercial motorboat operators in Waikiki and Maui’s Kaanapali, two of the highest-traffic tourist areas.

State officials said the department’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation is about a year behind in certifying instructors in Waikiki and has never implemented it in Kaanapali. Clearly the program is unworkable, but if DLNR ends it, there needs to be some form of vetting instructors in its place.

Some of the business owners have said that they, and the hotels that host the concessions, should be able to take responsibility of screening their employees. That is possible, although the state needs to have some control over what is acceptable. One proposal that may work is to put standards in the rules to be sure an instructor can cope with emergency scenarios.

Some of the instructors have complained that delays in certifying instructors have curtailed their ability to capitalize on the tourism potential because they cannot run enough outings without the employee being cleared to work. They do have grounds to complain about not receiving the service they need after paying their fee.

But the fact is that the state needs to serve some kind of gatekeeper function, for the larger public interest. Commercial ventures should have access to the ocean, just as everyone else does, but there must be a fee structure capable of supporting good government oversight, and that must be built into the cost of the recreational service.

The number of visitors on Hawaii’s shores is expected to surpass 8 million this year. Without rational and effective state stewardship, Hawaii may run into additional problems maintaining recreation safety, and those among the state’s own 1 million residents who want to take advantage of ocean sports as well may find themselves left onshore.