When positions are authorized and funds appropriated for them by the Legislature, state departments can realize savings when the positions are vacant. But when other employees have to carry the extra workload of the vacancies, the savings can be eroded … Continued
Stand in the halls of the Kalanimoku Building in downtown Honolulu long enough, and you’re bound to overhear staffers with the Department of Land and Natural Resources complain over the lack of money or personnel that prevents them from carrying … Continued
When Michael Kohn announced his intention to build a facility at Honolulu International Airport to irradiate fruit for export markets, his plans called for it to be up and running by February 2006. More than two years later, the license … Continued
A New High and Low: First, the good news: In 2007, 14 endangered Hawaiian monk seal pups were born in the Main Hawaiian Islands, the highest number on record. The bad news is that the monk seal population in the … Continued
For the first time, the Hawai`i longline fleet is operating under catch limits for its most lucrative haul – bigeye tuna – throughout virtually the entire area it fishes. Yet the trade group representing the 125 or so longline vessels … Continued
For Kitty Simonds, executive director of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, what happened on Saturday, July 25, must have felt like a palace coup. At the tail end of a four-day meeting of the council in Kona, Simonds had … Continued
In the three years since total allowable catch limits, or TACs, were first set for seven species of highly prized bottomfish around the Main Hawaiian Islands, the annual quotas have steadily grown. From 178,000 pounds the first year, it has … Continued
“I don’t think we’re licked yet,” said one of the more optimistic presenters at this year’s Hawai`i Conservation Conference. But while he and several other speakers insisted that it’s not too late to try to protect Hawai`i’s natural resources from … Continued
Snail v. Snail v. Rat: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That may be a concise description of the findings of two University of Hawai`i researchers into the predation of black rats on two species of invasive snails, … Continued
The on-again, off-again Kohala development known as the Villages of `Aina Le`a is on again. In August, the state Land Use Commission gave new life to the project when it backed away from the action it took last April to … Continued