FKW Trigger Lowered: The National Marine Fisheries Service has reduced the level of observer coverage in the deep-set longline fishery of Hawaiʻi. And as the level of observer coverage is lowered, so, too, is the number of false killer whales that the fishery is allowed to take before the fishery is closed out of a large area of fishing grounds south of the islands, extending from the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, in the west, to beyond the easternmost tip of the Big Island, in the east.
NMFS has set at 16 the number of pelagic false killer whales that can be killed or seriously injured by the fishery, and the number of observed takes, at 20 percent observer coverage, is estimated at one-fifth of that, or four, due to rounding.
Now that the coverage has been reduced, the number of animals that can be killed or seriously injured by the fishery has been reduced as well, to three observed mortality or serious injury (M/SI) takes.
In 2023, the fishery had six observed takes, five of which were still awaiting at year’s end a determination as to whether the injury qualified as a M/SI. This year, a false killer whale was hooked on January 11. The observer report stated that about 3.7 meters of branch line, 0.7 meter of monofilament line, a 45-gram swivel weight, and a hook remained attached to the animal when the line was cut by the fishing crew. No determination has been made on that interaction, either.
New Marconi Lawsuit: On February 16, attorneys representing RCA Trade Center, Inc. and MP Unit 21, LLC, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court against Schulte Building Systems, Inc., a Texas company that provided the building materials for the eight agricultural warehouses that have been erected on the former companies’ units within the Marconi Point Condominiums property on Oʻahu’s North Shore.
Both RCA and MP Unit 21 are owned by Marconi Point developer Jeremiah Henderson III and are part of another federal lawsuit against the City & County of Honolulu over, among other things, whether the Department of Planning and Permitting improperly required a Special Management Area permit to be obtained for some of the proposed development at Marconi Point.
The more recent complaint asks that nearly $770,000 in damages be awarded to RCA, and $1.12 million in damages be awarded to MP Unit 21. The companies claim that the metal purlins that Schulte provided to support the buildings’ roofs were not properly galvanized to fight corrosion and rusted out, requiring the ordering of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of replacement parts and delaying construction.
RCA and MP Unit 21 also claim Schulte owes them money for lost rental income due to construction delays. This, despite the fact that the City & County of Honolulu has so far held back on issuing permits to complete the interiors of most of the buildings and that the companies’ ability to secure Certificates of Occupancy is in question as a result of unauthorized work done recently on adjacent historic structures.
The companies’ calculation of lost income from the sale of electricity generated by the rooftop solar panels atop all of the buildings is also off by several thousand dollars. The complaint alleges the companies are each owed $21,000 based on the estimated sale of electricity over 18 months at a rate of 24.5 cents per kilowatt hour. That rate, however, is the feed-in tariff rate for concentrated solar power, not rooftop solar. The feed-in tariff rate for rooftop solar is 18.9 cents per kilowatt hour.
Rick
Who are the attorneys representing RCA Trade Center, Inc. and MP Unit 21, LLC?
Rick
Any Hawaii resident of windward exposures knows that most building materials are damaged by prolonged exposures to ‘ehukai. Locations next to areas of high seasonal surf, or lacking protection from tall vegetation or dunes get extra exposure to “salt storms”, and numerous local vehicles have short lives as a result. It is not at all surprising that the “agricultural warehouses” at Marconi Point suffered similarly from this collective onslaught of nature.
Throughout the islands, sand dunes, especially back shore dunes, have been used to bury ‘iwi. Has SHPO or other interested party looked into the situation at Marconi? Where did all that sand that was excavated and sold go? Is there any left, transported or in situ, that could be examined carefully?
Robert
Was the “business” that RCA Trade Center, Inc and MP Unit 21, LLC conduct even legal? Weren’t these AGRICULURAL warehouses? Since there is zero agriculture at Marconi Point, the solar energy produced can’t even be considered a by-product of any type of agricultural processing. And totally agree with Rick in the comment above about salt storms. Additionally, since they illegally bulldozed the dunes down, as well as decimated the coastline, there isn’t even that protection to their warehouses. It seems like these two “companies” that hide behind corporate shell companies may have set up the situation themselves to be able to profit. They also seem to sue anyone and everything, trying to make money. Just my take on the situation.