In September, when the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled that commercial aquarium fish collection permits issued by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources require an environmental review, many thought an injunction closing the fishery would soon follow. The high … Continued
Stewards of the famed seaweed resources off ‘Ewa Beach suffered a major blow earlier this year. On September 29, 1st Circuit Judge Keith Hiraoka issued his official order denying a years-long effort by the group Kua‘aina Ulu ‘Auamo (KUA) to … Continued
Land Board Approves Rule Changes Banning Feeding, Abandoning Animals According to testimony from some of the women who manage feral cat colonies on O‘ahu, cat numbers can be dramatically reduced with proper care — not leaving food out, trapping, spaying … Continued
Over the past year, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. went from cultivating tens of thousands of acres of one of the thirstiest crops, sugarcane, to raising cattle, experimenting with biofuel crops on a tiny fraction of that land, and working … Continued
Every year, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) holds its annual meeting in December mainly to hash out how to best manage tuna stocks that have been depleted over the years by purse seiners and longline vessels. … Continued
Did the 2014 amendments to Kaua‘i County’s shoreline setback ordinance weaken what was once considered to be one of the strongest laws of its kind in the state? Unlike O‘ahu, where shoreline setbacks are 40 feet from the certified shoreline, … Continued
In short, it’s still there, blanketed in naupaka, just as the abutting landowners want it to be. Efforts to clean up the legal morass surrounding its existence are in limbo. In August 2015, Environment Hawai‘i published a cover story on … Continued
With the closure last December of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar’s (HC&S) sugarcane plantation, most of its former fields in Central Maui now sit fallow. Some cattle graze on a small portion, and the company has made moves to grow bioenergy … Continued
Constant Flooding Hampers Tenant’s Ability To Pay Rent for Mapunapuna Demo Business By now, anyone who watches the local evening news knows that Mapunapuna floods dramatically during high tides and heavy rains. As local scientists and government agencies have ramped up … Continued
On July 31, the Natural Area Reserves System Commission approved a special use permit to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) field site within the Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve (NAR) on Hawai’i … Continued