Lawmakers OK surf panel to promote homegrown sport

At first glance, a bill passed by the Legislature last week to establish a state commission on surfing may seem more ceremonial than essential, more akin to ankle­-high peelers at Waikiki than the earth-shaking, 40-foot-plus faces required to hold the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay.

After all, Hawaiians invented surfing, and surfers who call Hawaii home, including John John Florence and Carissa Moore, still dominate the pro ranks.

But with surfing’s debut as an Olympic event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a worldwide boom in adventure tourism and media-genic waves in California, Australia, Africa, Asia, the South Pacific, Europe and Kelly Slater’s artificial wave pool in Leemoore, Calif., all competing with Hawaii for audiences, the stakes are potentially high.

“It should have been done years ago,” the bill’s author, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, said in an interview after Senate Bill 1459 was passed Tuesday.

Compared to the commercialization of surfing and Kona coffee by non-local entities, “Hawaii hasn’t been aggressive in owning its brands, its culture,” said Dela Cruz (D, Wahiawa-­Whitmore-Mililani Mauka).

SB 1459 charges the commission with advising state agencies on promoting the surfing industry and educating people locally and abroad about the sport’s cultural and historical significance here.

Noting that an estimated 704,000 people surf in the islands every year, the bill says the commission may “make recommendations on programs, services and contracts relating to surfing,” including education and training, and identify best practices and safety obstacles.

As the bill progressed through committee hearings, disagreement arose regarding whether the World Surf League, a for-profit surf promoter, should have a seat on the commission. WSL had been added to a list of designated members, but ultimately the California-­headquartered organization was removed by an amendment in conference committee.

“I talked to the committee chairs about how I thought it was important to have members on the commission who are based and live and are from Hawaii,” Dela Cruz said. “It doesn’t preclude WSL and others in the private sector from testifying and participating in discussions in (commission) public hearings.”

The bill now provides for 16 voting members, including five state officials; nine gubernatorial appointees made with input from state legislators and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and one each from the Hawaii Lifeguard Association and Hawaii Surfing Association.

It sets a commission expiration date of July 1, 2024.

While Rep. Sharon Har (D, Kapolei-­Makakilo) voted in support of the bill, she did so with reservations about the commission’s temporary status, its placement within the Department of Accounting and General Services, “which has absolutely no expertise or even staff to deal with a ‘surfing commission,’” and lack of monetary appropriation, Har said in an email.

Lack of funding was also a concern for Stuart Coleman, Hawaii manager of the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, which testified in favor of the bill. Coupled with lack of enforcement power, “The commission doesn’t seem to have any teeth,” he said, adding he was surprised there was no provision for a commissioner from the environmental community.

Warning that many surf spots, such as Sunset Beach and Pipeline, are especially vulnerable to climate change, sea level rise and overdevelopment, “there’s a fine line between promoting and protecting,” Coleman said.

SB 1459 awaits Gov. David Ige’s signature. For more info, go to 808ne.ws/surfcomm.