December 2017 PDF
December 2017
New & Noteworthy: Aquarium Collection, Maha`ulepu Cases
Aquarium Collection Update: On September 6, the Hawai`i Supreme Court justices issued a unanimous ruling that the Department of Land and Natural Resources had to complete an environmental study of the effects of aquarium fish collection before issuing permits sanctioning … Continued
Simmering Dispute Over Access At Pepe`ekeo Boils Over at Hearing
The issue of public access along the Pepe`ekeo shoreline, about 10 miles north of the Big Island town of Hilo, has been contested for two decades or more. No sooner does it seem to be settled than it flares up … Continued
Board Talk: Protestors Removed, Ka‘u Violator Fined, & Maui Water Permits Granted
Tour Operator is Fined $70K For Damage To Historic Wharf, Conservation District Simon Velaj didn’t seem to think it was that big of a deal. In late June, without permits of any kind, he had taken a backhoe to features … Continued
Wind Farm Plan to Protect Rare Bats Is Inadequate, Hearing Officer Finds
One year ago, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources granted a contested case hearing to the community group Keep the North Shore Country, which opposed a recommendation made a month earlier by the Department of Land and Natural … Continued
Green Infrastructure Agency Told To Pay Back Public Benefits Fee
Unhappy with the performance of the Green Energy Market Securitization program (GEMS), which has largely failed to meet its mandate to help make solar photovoltaic systems affordable to underserved communities, the Public Utilities Commission issued an order on October 26 … Continued
November 2017 PDF
November 2017 Editor’s note regarding “Green Infrastructure Authority Seeks Special Ruling for Kalihi Shelter Village”: On October 10, the Public Utilities Commission clarified that its order approving the GEMS program in September 2014 “does not preclude the HGIA from committing … Continued
Swordfish, Bigeye Catches Remain High Despite Expansion of Marine Monument
In the months after President Obama expanded the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, catches by commercial longliners didn’t seem to suffer at all. The deep-set longline fleet caught about the same amount of bigeye tuna as it had in the first … Continued
Council Seeks to Nearly Double Annual Bigeye Tuna Quota
Things are looking up for the Hawai‘i deep-set longline fleet, and not just because a new stock assessment for bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific suggests that it is neither overfished nor subject to overfishing. This past summer, … Continued
Council Seeks To End Hard Caps On Swordfish Fleet’s Turtle Takes
The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Wespac) is moving to lift measures, in place for more than a decade, that require the Hawai‘i shallow-set longline fleet, which targets swordfish, to stop fishing if it hits its annual limit of loggerhead … Continued