On the Big Island, where a proposal to introduce axis deer in the 1970s ground to a halt after environmentalists raised hell, rumors abound now that axis deer have arrived anyway and that a reproducing population of them exists in … Continued
Best available science – science uncorrupted by overweening economic objectives or political interests. That’s the kind of science that is supposed to guide the nation’s fishery management councils as they advise the federal agencies that ultimately decide such important issues … Continued
“I am concerned about the Deep 7 bottomfish fishery. We were overfishing in the past. We are not overfishing now. We could be overfishing in the near future if we make the wrong decision now,” warned National Marine Fisheries Service … Continued
Mariculture is on the move in Hawai`i. At least, that’s the hope of investors in two enterprises, one in Kona and one on O`ahu. In the case of the Kona operation, Blue Ocean Mariculture LLC is proposing a 260 percent … Continued
At the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s meeting in June, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) research ecologist Amanda Bradford presented new data on the ranges of Hawaiian false killer whales (FKW), which the council then seized on as proof … Continued
The lecture hall at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo was packed to the rafters for two days in June. Under the direction of Stanford University’s Peter Vitousek, one of the foremost figures in the study of Hawaiian ecosystems, around … Continued
Agribusiness Corporation Receives Lands For Aquaculture, Renewable Energy Purposes Over the past few months, the Land Board has been transferring pieces of land on O`ahu – large and small – to the state Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC). Unlike the Land … Continued
Environmental Courts: The 2014 legislative session was not distinguished by passage of strong new environmental laws. Still, one of the last bills signed into law by Governor Neil Abercrombie merits some attention. Act 218 establishes a system of environmental courts within … Continued
The National Marine Fisheries Service says that a petition to delist the Hawai`i population of green sea turtles – removing its status as threatened under the Endangered Species Act – “may be warranted.” “We find that the petition viewed in … Continued
Alison Rieser. The Case of the Green Turtle: An Uncensored History of a Conservation Icon. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012. 338 pages. $45.00 hardbound. The green turtle, Chelonia mydas, is much in the news in Hawai`i these days, what with … Continued