The state agency that oversees aquatic resources has recommended denying a petition submitted by five Hawaii residents to amend rules for obtaining a state longline fishing license — a petition aimed at cracking down on reported labor abuses aboard Hawaii- based fishing vessels.

The petition, scheduled to be heard Friday before the Board of Land and Natural Resources, was filed last month by Kathryn Xian, executive director of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery; Larry Geller, who runs a local blog called Disappeared News; Michael Gagne; Karen Chun; and Cory Harden.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources is recommending that the petition be rejected by the board, in part because the proposed rule changes don’t seem to accomplish the petition’s goal, are redundant and focus on labor issues that are outside the department’s jurisdiction.

“The petition does not state sufficient reasons to justify its request that the Board initiate rule amendment procedures,” wrote Bruce Anderson, administrator for the Aquatic Resources Division, in a memo submitted to the board.

The petition followed an investigative report by the Associated Press that found grueling conditions aboard Hawaii longline vessels that employ a largely foreign crew of about 700 fishermen. The story found that some fishermen earn as little as 70 cents per hour, are confined to boats for years, and lack essentials such as toilets.

The longline fishing industry maintains that such conditions are not reflective of the industry as a whole, and has been working to assuage public concerns over the story, including devising a standard contract that officials say is meant to prevent human trafficking.

DLNR officials don’t have oversight over labor issues aboard the vessels, but they do issue licenses annually to the longline fishermen as part of their role in managing marine resources.

The longline fleet of about 140 vessels is exempt from a federal law that requires 75 percent of crew members on fishing boats to be domestic workers. The exemption allows the foreign fishermen to work without visas, but they are not allowed to set foot on shore.

The fishermen still have to annually obtain their fishing licenses from DLNR’s offices in downtown Honolulu, however. Because they can’t leave their boats, someone else, usually a captain, will bring the applications into DLNR and pick up the permits, according to the department.

The petition filed with the Land Board asked for changes to the application process, such as requiring vessel owners or officers to provide DLNR with a list of all the foreign fishermen who are “ineligible for landing privileges in Hawaii,” as well as requiring the fishermen to certify that they understand the terms of the applications.

The department has said in the past that it already has information about the fishermen, the captains and vessels. In addition to providing personal contact information, each fisherman must have documentation from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicating they are permitted to work on U.S. fleets.

In statements released Wednesday, the petitioners expressed disappointment with the department’s recommendation to deny their petition.

“What the DLNR fails to understand is that the process by which these undocumented workers ‘are assigned’ fishing licenses is problematic and possibly unlawful,” Xian said in a statement. “How many undocumented migrant workers who are denied landing privileges in the U.S., and who are technically in deportation proceedings, are allowed to obtain state commercial fishing licenses by proxy? This practice is unjust and poses a question of safety to our national security.”

Chun, a fellow petitioner and Maui political activist, said that “DLNR is complicit in this near-slavery” and therefore needs to disclose information that could help track and solve the problem.

While the Aquatic Resources Division has recommended rejecting the petition, the department has emphasized that while its mission is focused on protecting natural resources, it also is concerned about any human rights violations that may be occurring on the fleet.

The labor issues are expected to be addressed primarily at the federal level, but DLNR has said it is open to collaborating with the agencies involved.

Members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation have also said that they are looking into the issue and possible fixes for safeguarding working conditions for fishermen.