April was a difficult month for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands. Despite its long-standing policy against shoreline hardening, the office twice recommended that the Board of Land and Natural Resources approve … Continued
The international limit on the Hawai`i longliners’ catch of valuable bigeye tuna in the waters of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean has been pretty well shredded with the recent amendment to the pelagic fishery management plan of the Western … Continued
The National Marine Fisheries Service has given final approval to a play to allow Hawai`i longline vessels to attribute part of their catch of bigeye tuna to Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. The proposal is … Continued
The meeting held in the conference room of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Honolulu office on the afternoon of January 29 must have been a doozy. As a result of what he claimed was uncivil behavior of a participant, … Continued
Every penny spent by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council comes from federal coffers. Yet tracking how those funds are spent would seem to demand the combined skills of an accountant, a sleuth, and, most of all, a psychic. And … Continued
Later this month, the Board of Land and Natural Resources is expected to decide whether Lance Laney, husband of Public Utilities Commission chair Hermina “Mina” Morita, violated Conservation District rules when he built two dwellings without a Conservation District Use … Continued
Carla D’Antonio has been in the weeds – literally – for the better part of 25 years. The professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been investigating invasive plants in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park since … Continued
TMT Decision Upheld: Judge Greg K. Nakamura of the 3rd Circuit Court has found in favor of the Board of Land and Natural Resources in a case brought by opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope. On April 1, the judge issued … Continued
The Hawai`i longline fishery faces a conundrum. How can it get around a limit on its haul of bigeye tuna without appearing to violate the international treaty under which that limit was set? The Hawai`i Longline Association, whose members represent … Continued
For the last three years (2011-2013), Congress authorized the Hawai`i longliners to take up to 1,000 more metric tons of tuna annually than is allowed under the quota system set up by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. And … Continued