Proposal would expand marine conservation area in Northwest Hawaiian islands
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this undated photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, fish are seen on a deep coral reef at Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz is proposing to expand one of the world’s largest marine conservation areas in a way that preserves some fishing grounds for local fishermen.
The proposal submitted to President Barack Obama today would make the monument near Hawaii the largest protected marine area in the world.
It reflects a smaller protected area than what was originally sought by Native Hawaiians, who consider the remote islands, atolls and coral reefs found within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument sacred.
“I think it’s a really good compromise to help alleviate some of the concerns that were raised on Kauai by the fishing community about their access to the waters that are surrounding Papahanaumokuakea,” said Sol Kahoohalahla, a member of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group, which pushed for expansion.
Even so, important fishing grounds would still be lost, said Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association, which includes about 140 vessels. About 8 to 12 percent of the fish caught by Hawaii longline fishermen comes from waters in the proposed protected area, he said.
“We’ve been operating there for many, many decades and the place is still pristine,” Martin said. “I’m sorry but I don’t get it.”
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The new proposal would allow fishing in areas popular with smaller boats from the islands of Kauai and Niihau, said William Aila, deputy director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
“A lot of their fish ends up at luau parties, at family gatherings, whereas all of the long line fish gets sold on the auction block,” said Aila, who was part of a group of Native Hawaiians pushing to expand the monument.
While grateful for the concession to fishermen near Kauai, some of the 3,400 small-boat fishermen that are part of the Hawaii Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition are concerned about the proposal, which they say would make it harder to conduct research tracking fish migration, said Phil Fernandez, president of the Hawaii Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition.
“We see no conservation benefit other than large environmental groups saying the more you have marine protected area the better the Earth will be,” Fernandez said.
Aila also wants to protect the area from deep sea mining for manganese nodules, which are metal deposits used to make computers and cellphones, he said. “We know that many countries already engaging in international agreements to try to this,” Aila said.
Many Native Hawaiians believe all life began in the waters around the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Three probable new species of fish were recently discovered in the monument.
“We have generations of children yet unborn that are going to be the beneficiaries of this place, and we should be ensuring that we leave them a place that is going to be kept well for their use,” Kahoohalahla said.
5 responses to “Proposal would expand marine conservation area in Northwest Hawaiian islands”
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Schatz thinks that local folks can afford poke at $25 and sashimi at $50 per pound when he cuts off the closest fishing grounds. What an idiot!
Yeah, I know EVERYTHING IS SACRED.
What this story leaves out is that once closed those Polynesian-Hawaiian “leaders” believe they should be in charge of the area. Their goal is not one of conservation, as they would declare only Polynesians could fish in the area due to “ancient sacred gathering rights”. This is yet just another attempt by OHA and their racist ilk at power grabbing away from the rest of the good citizens of this State.
Glad the greedy fisherman lost this battle. No9w enforce it with heavy fines and boat confiscation
Schatz’s proposal and the even worse original proposal, would have cut out thousands of square miles of pelagic fishing grounds that are important to our local fisheries. The original proposal was aimed straight at the heart of the local longline fishery, which is the dominant part of our local fishing industry and the supplier of the fish we eat and rely on. It is based on hatred and distrust of the longliners based on ignorance and emotion. There is simply no scientific basis for expanding the monument that far. The existing 50 mile monument boundary around the NWHI provides more than ample protection for the coral reefs, birds, monk seals, and turtles of the NWHI. Except for a few isolated seamounts, there are no shallow (100m or less) areas outside of the existing monument boundary. The argument that extending the monument out to 200 nmi is necessary to protect the coral reefs, birds, turtles, and monk seals is frankly ludicrous. The Hawaii longline fishery has extensive mitigations in place to protect marine mammals, turtles, and seabirds. They operate under detailed and numerous federal regulations that make them this fishery one of the best managed fisheries in the world. Mr. Schatz’s modifications to the original proposal are simply band aids to make it look like they’re giving fishermen something. These are just as ludicrous. There are only a few fishermen on Kauai and none on Niihau that can even go as far as Middle Bank, which is just on the existing border of the Monument. I’ve been involved in fishery management in Hawaii for over 30 years and this is the most blatantly indefensible proposal I’ve yet seen. President Obama, I hope that you can see past this charade and deny these proposals. I’ve had enough of these backdoor designations and building of empires.