As with most other state agencies, the Department of Land and Natural Resources is facing straitened circumstances as Hawai`i attempts to deal with forecasts of crashing revenues. From an authorized spending level of roughly $111.6 million for the current fiscal … Continued
The annual Variance Report, published by the state Department of Budget and Finance, is a rich mine of information on the operation of Hawai`i government agencies. Here are a few tidbits: Average number of business days the Department of Taxation … Continued
Whales, Dolphins Unprotected from Fishers: The Government Accountability Office has found that the National Marine Fisheries Service has failed to take protective measures for 14 marine mammal populations that, by law, it is required to protect. Among them are Hawai`i … Continued
A decade ago, Daniel Pauly, one of the leading scientists in the field of fisheries management, coined a term: Fishing down the food web. This describes what happens when the large marine predators are overfished and their numbers decline, while … Continued
The star attraction at the Honolulu fish auction is bigeye tuna, also known as ahi. It is the target of almost all of the 125 or so active boats in the Hawai`i longline fleet. The choicest fish are flown to … Continued
Are marine national monuments established under the Antiquities Act legal? And should Congress compensate fishers – even potential fishers – for loss of access to monument waters? Those were two the questions posed to the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council … Continued
The press release issued by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council was hardly dispassionate. “U.S. Territories Ask for ‘Justice’ in Pacific Tuna Allocations,” read the headline on the notice, which described the council’s vote to allow Guam, Common¬wealth of the … Continued
A company trying to grow in cages fish that are being pillaged to near commercial extinction in the Pacific received Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) approval from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources on October 24. In a … Continued
Seal Rehab at Keahole? On October 20, the state Natural Energy Laboratory Hawai`i Authority’s board of directors gave preliminary approval to a proposal by The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC) of Sausalito, California, to construct an endangered Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus … Continued
Kama`aina Kids Chosen to Replace Friends to Run He`eia State Park Had they known it would end up this way, they probably wouldn’t have done it. Earlier this year, members of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources directed … Continued