{"id":311,"date":"2014-04-01T22:35:59","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T22:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/EH\/?p=311"},"modified":"2015-01-29T19:41:17","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T19:41:17","slug":"new-noteworthy-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=311","title":{"rendered":"New & Noteworthy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Humpback Delisting Petition:\u00a0<\/b>A newly formed association claiming to represent Hawai`i fishermen wants to remove the North Pacific population of humpback whales from the federal list of endangered species.The group, calling itself Hawai`i Fishermen\u2019s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition, Inc. (HFACT), was formed just a few weeks before it filed the petition in April. Signing its corporation papers filed with the state were two individuals with strong ties to the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council: Roy Morioka, a former council member who has also served as a paid consultant to the council; and Ed Watamura, chairman of the council\u2019s advisory panel.<\/p>\n

The president of HFACT, Phil Fernandez, vigorously denies any association with Wespac, however. He told\u00a0Environment Hawai`i<\/i>\u00a0that the group coalesced over the course of several years as fishermen with common interests continued to meet at various hearings and conferences. Until recently, Fernandez represented fishing interests on the Hawai`i Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary\u2019s advisory council. Today, Fernandez still serves on that panel as an alternate.<\/p>\n

Fernandez stated that he was aware that the National Marine Fisheries Service had already begun a global review of the status of humpback whales several years ago. \u201cOne of the reasons why we did this, was to require them to finish their global review,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been dragging their feet; this [petition] is a legal way to put their feet to the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Calambokidis of the Cascadia Research Institute and principal author of a 2008 definitive study of Pacific humpback whales said he had looked over the petition. There are \u201cgood signs of recovery for humpback whales, especially those in the Central Eastern Pacific, those that breed in Hawai`i and some of their feeding areas,\u201d he noted. \u201cIf there was one area that concerned me, and where I think they missed an important aspect of our studies, it\u2019s that there is a very defined structure of populations in the North Pacific, not just one intermixing group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe petition would have been stronger if they had focused on recognizing as a distinct population segment the Hawai`i humpback whales, where there\u2019s the strongest evidence of recovery. They didn\u2019t do that. They talk about the North Pacific as a whole. Unfortunately, that\u2019s what would make it harder for me to view the petition as favorably as if they had focused on the segment of the population that we know is doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The petition may be viewed online at:\u00a0http:\/\/www.nmfs.noaa.gov\/pr\/species\/petitions.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

TMT Permit Is Appealed:\u00a0<\/b>At the 11th hour and practically the 59th minute, the petitioners in the contested case hearing over a Conservation District Use Permit for the Thirty-Meter Telescope appealed the award of the permit to the 3rd Circuit Court. The state Board of Land and Natural Resources had approved the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and decision and order of the hearing officer on April 12. On the final day in which an appeal could be filed — May 10 \u2013 and in the final hour — at 4:01 p.m. \u2013 the petitioners lodged their notice of appeal and the statement of their case.<\/p>\n

The appeal rehashes many of the same claims that were put forward in the contested case hearing and dismissed by the hearing officer: that the telescope will harm underground aquifers and damage historic sites, that it entails an illegal subdivision of Conservation District land, that the construction of the telescope, practically at the summit of Mauna Kea, will violate the Coastal Zone Management Act by increasing the risk of water pollution, will lead to \u201cmulti-generational trauma upon the health of native Hawaiians,\u201d violates the religious freedoms of Native Hawaiians, and so on.<\/p>\n

Representing the petitioners \u2013 KAHEA: the Hawaiian Environmental Alliance; Mauna Kea Anaina Hou; Clarence Kukauakahi Ching; the Flores-Case `Ohana; Deborah J. Ward; and Paul K. Neves \u2013 is Richard Wurdeman, who once served as corporation counsel to Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi and Big Island Mayor Steve Yamashiro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Volume 23, Number 12 — June 2013<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Humpback Delisting Petition: A newly formed association claiming to represent Hawai`i fishermen wants to remove the North Pacific population of humpback whales from the federal list of endangered species.The group, calling itself Hawai`i Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition, Inc. (HFACT), … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,26,8,35,17,18,12],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-development","category-endangered-species","category-fisheries","category-june-2013","category-marine","category-new-noteworthy","category-telescopes","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}