LIHUE — The Kauai County Council passed a measure Wednesday asking state lawmakers and the Department of Land and Natural Resources to cease all legislation seeking to regulate coastal and marine resources around Niihau. “These initiatives and efforts have led
LIHUE — The Kauai County Council passed a measure Wednesday asking state lawmakers and the Department of Land and Natural Resources to cease all legislation seeking to regulate coastal and marine resources around Niihau.
“These initiatives and efforts have led to community confusion, misinformation and premature rule making at the legislative and administrative levels of the state,” the approved resolution read in part. “The communities and residents that would be most impacted by any regulatory change should have a clear voice in all formal and informal discussions or processes that concern the island of Niihau.”
The resolution, which also asks state lawmakers and officials to resolve the issue through “community-based discussions and negotiations on Kauai between its residents,” passed by a 6-0 vote.
Councilman Tim Bynum was not present and did not vote on the measure.
“We’ve got to allow all Hawaiians to be represented equally and I believe that this resolution … will give the Legislature some direction in not only talking to a small group of Hawaiians but all Hawaiians and all of the people of Kauai who are a part of the community,” said Councilman Ross Kagawa, who co-introduced the non-binding resolution with fellow Councilman Mel Rapozo.
Nearly a dozen Niihau and Kauai residents testified on the measure.
On one hand, some Kauai residents, mostly Westside fishermen, said the bills in the Legislature may have a negative impact on the economy and cut off residents from fishing areas that some families have visited for years.
Residents from Niihau, however, said the proposed laws are a necessary step to protect the island’s culture and bring some sense of security to residents, who have been shaken in recent years by overfishing and harassed by some illegal visitors.
“These are tough, tough issues that bring up laws going back as far as the Great Mahele in the 1840s,” Deputy County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask said during his testimony about five of the nine bills still active in the Legislature.
