Question: It’s been well over a year, or two, since the public was allowed to go fishing at Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden in Kaneohe. A footbridge leading to the fishing area along the dam collapsed and needed to be replaced. The new bridge is completed and sitting in the parking lot ready to be hoisted into place. Any idea when the new footbridge will be ready and public fishing can resume? As of June 1 the new Cub Scout books will have “Fishing” as one of the elective activities. Hoomaluhia is about the only place on Oahu where kids can reasonably expect to catch a fish within 15 minutes. In other words, it is the safest, best place to take a kid fishing and expect to catch something. Just wondering when this valuable fishing resource will again be open to the public.

Answer: There’s no exact restart date for the fishing program, which has been suspended for years, but it’s expected to resume first for permitted school and youth groups, after the footbridge is installed, and later for the general public, through an online reservation system that the city is working on now. Here’s the full response from Nate Serota, a spokesperson for Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation:

“The fishing program at Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than relaunch it in its previous state, where access was difficult, its popularity impacted the quality of the program, and the footbridge needed repairs, we kept it suspended until we could improve the facilities and operations.

“The new footbridge was built in-house by our talented welders, and will be placed as soon as weather conditions are consistently favorable. While awaiting that, we are working on an online reservation system for the fishing program to better manage the crowds.

“Our current plan is to reopen the fishing program to permitted youth and school groups when the bridge installation is complete. Once we have the online reservation system in place, we will reopen the fishing program to the general public.

“We will certainly announce both of these reopening phases, as we understand the popularity of this fishing program and how enjoyable that experience is for garden visitors of all ages. We appreciate the public’s patience while we work to reopen this fishing program in an improved state.”

After receiving Serota’s emailed response, we followed up again requesting at least an estimate on the timing of the phased reopening, as well as more information about the planned reservation system for the general public. He could provide no further details, but emphasized that the department “will absolutely provide public notice when the fishing program is relaunched.”

In the old program, catch-and-release fishing was allowed on the weekends, featuring bamboo poles and barbless hooks, commonly baited with white bread that attracted tilapia and midas cichlid.

Although there’s no fishing now, the 400-acre garden is otherwise open, according to its website, which describes the grounds as a “priceless parcel of tropical tranquility” designed to provide flood protection for Kaneohe. The garden’s 40th anniversary was celebrated in 2023.

Q: Are people worldwide donating to help the people burned out in Chile the way they did for Maui?

A: GoFundMe.com has a page devoted to verified fundraisers for victims of the wildfires that ravaged central and northern Chile, killing at least 131 people and displacing many thousands more. See the page at gofundme.com/c/act/chile-wildfires-help. As for the response, many of the campaigns for victims in Chile had raised only a few hundred dollars as of Thursday.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.