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A public meeting will be held to inform people about a proposed management plan for the Haena Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area on Kauai.
The proposed plan is to provide a framework to assist the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the community in working together to monitor, evaluate and manage the area located within the Haena ahupuaa. The fishing area is the first of its kind in Hawaii.
The meeting will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Kilauea Elementary School’s cafeteria, 2440 Kolo Road.
Rules for the Haena fishing area were signed into law in August 2015. Hui Maka‘ainana o Makana, a nonprofit formed in 1999, lobbied for the designation to protect ocean resources.
In the mid-2000s, the state recognized adverse impacts on the fishing area due to an influx of visitors and overfishing.
The proposed management plan indicated the ahupuaa and offshore waters were important cultural resources for Native Hawaiians and local families.
A subsistence fishing area designation is also being sought on Molokai in a proposal being finalized by Hui Malama o Moomomi, according to CBSFA coordinator Erin Zanre.
A pilot project of the Moomomi Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area was approved by the state Legislature in 1994. DLNR monitored activities from 1995 through the end of the project in 1997. Since then, the community group continued to manage the area.
About 10 to 15 other communities across the state have expressed interest in establishing a community-based subsistence fishing area.
Those unable to attend the public meeting may submit comments by April 26 to the Division of Aquatic Resources, 1151 Punchbowl St., Room 330.
To view the proposed management plan, visit 1.usa.gov/23fX999.
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