What’s one or two more dead Pacific loggerhead or leatherback sea turtles a year going to mean for the survival of those species? According to the federal Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, probably nothing. Conservationists, on the other hand, believe … Continued
For the last year, the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council has been paying Leimana DaMate to organize a series of meetings, called puwalu, that bring together Native Hawaiians to discuss approaches to managing Hawai`i’s ocean resources. But has the process, … Continued
“It’s hard, but it’s done already,” Dennis Kamikawa told the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council at its June meeting. Kamikawa, a commercial bottomfisherman for more than 15 years, is resigned to the harsh limits on bottomfishing recently laid down by … Continued
If the Hawai`i longline fleet is consistently reaching or nearing its annual limit on interactions with endangered sea turtles – without even fishing as hard as it’s allowed to – then why should the Hawai`i Longline Association and the Western … Continued
At 7:09 a.m. on March 20, the National Marine Fisheries Service closed the shallow-set longline fishery, commonly known as the swordfish fishery. The fishery’s take limit for loggerhead sea turtles had been reached, and the resulting closure, noticed in the … Continued
Remembering A Giant: News of the passing of Hampton Carson last December was greeted with sadness by members of Hawai‘i’s environmental community. Carson, an emeritus professor of genetics at the University of Hawai‘i, had done path-breaking research into the evolu … Continued
In July 2004, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve’s advisory council developed a preferred fishing alternative for the proposed NWHI National Marine Sanctuary. It included a 40 nautical mile zone around the islands stretching from Nihoa to Kure, … Continued
“Men and women do not live by fish alone. If opakapaka or even akule were to go up to 25 cents a pound, so what? Are we gonna die? The Northwest Hawaiian Islands is the last Hawaiian place. Not Hana.” … Continued
The years-long free-for-all for control over natural resources in the Northwestern Hawaiian Island archipelago took another twist recently, when the acting regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Southwest Region rejected an important section of the Western Pacific Regional … Continued
Geothermal Wells to be Plugged: It’s been two decades since they were drilled, but at long last, two geothermal wells in the Big Island district of Puna are going to be plugged. One of them, the 6500-foot-deep SOH-4 well, is an … Continued