Council under Fire: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, which develops rules for fishing in federal waters around Hawai`i and other U.S. islands in the Pacific, has come under fire from the O`ahu Game Fish Club and the Wai`anae Boat Fish Club. The two groups have asked the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate the council’s actions in advocating its own management plan for the proposed Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Sanctuary and criticizing the plan prepared by the sanctuary staff.
Last month, the club formally asked the inspector general to look into statements made by the council, especially those that the clubs say mischaracterized the sanctuary plan’s restrictions on Native Hawaiian rights.
The council vigorously disputed the claim of improper advocacy. “Providing information and advice to the executive branch, such as the Secretary of Commerce and the NMSP, is not improper or unlawful: it is one of the Council’s primary responsibilities,” the council said in a press release.
Late Reports? No License. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has announced that starting next March, it will not renew commercial fishing licenses for fishers who are late submitting their required monthly catch reports.
“More than half of the 3,030 commercial fishers [in Hawai`i] are behind in their reporting by at least two months,” said Peter Young, administrator of the DLNR. Of those, 216 are at least 10 months behind in their reports.
By law, commercial fishers are required to submit detailed monthly reports of their catch to DLNR within 10 days after the end of a month, even if they do not fish. A valid license is required before fishers can legally sell any part of their catch; fish wholesalers and retailers are prohibited from purchasing fish from anyone who does not produce a current commercial license. According to a DLNR press release, just 20 percent of licensed commercial fishers are up-to-date with their reports; 26 percent are one month in arrears.
Boating Bias? Carol She, former Maui district manager for the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, has agreed to mediate issues regarding her allegations she was mistreated by DOBOR and Department of Land and Natural Resources staff. She filed suit in U.S. District Court on August 7 against the DLNR, its director, Peter Young, retired DOBOR administrator Mason Young, and several other Honolulu and Maui DOBOR staff members, alleging, among other things, that they had violated the Hawai`i Whistleblower’s Protection Act and infringed on her freedom of speech.
In 2002, She sought to end what she believed to be unethical and illegal activities being conducted by Maui harbor agents, including allowing certain vessels to moor at Lahaina Harbor without valid permits, selling palm fronds to visiting cruise ships, and accepting gifts of fish from harbor permittees.
In her complaint, She describes the backlash that followed inquiries she made to the state Ethics Commission (which later sided with her), as well as alleged racial and sexual discrimination going back to the late 1990s.
On October 3, the state deputy attorneys general filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, stating, among other things, that She failed to exhaust administrative remedies when she didn’t file a charge of discrimination with the Hawai`i Civil Rights Commission.
Both sides have agreed to begin mediation next February.
New Website: This month, Environment Hawai`i launch a new and improved, designed by Olomana Marketing and made possible with a generous grant from the Hawai`i Community Foundation. The site, which will still be found at [url=http://www.environment-hawaii.org]www.environment-hawaii.org[/url], will include a few new features, including a page where readers can post comments on certain issues, and [i]EH-xtra[/i], a mixed bag of editorial commentary, web articles and other news.
— Volume 16, Number 6 December 2005
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