LIHUE — A slew of House bills aimed at prohibiting outsiders from fishing and harvesting opihi around the island of Niihau died in committee Wednesday. However, the discussion will continue. Instead of creating new laws from Oahu, Rep. Derek Kawakami,
LIHUE — A slew of House bills aimed at prohibiting outsiders from fishing and harvesting opihi around the island of Niihau died in committee Wednesday.
However, the discussion will continue.
Instead of creating new laws from Oahu, Rep. Derek Kawakami, D-Wailua-Haena, said the House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources and Hawaiian Affairs — of which he is a member — opted to follow the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ recommendation to handle the situation through the department’s administrative rules process.
Deferring the bills, Kawakami said, will “allow more public input by Niihauans and Kauai fishermen and ocean users because the meetings will take place on Kauai instead of Oahu.”
“It’s bringing it back home where it belongs,” he said.
Kawakami said there is a commitment from Big Island Rep. Faye Hanohano, chair of the OMH committee, to introduce a new bill that would provide the DLNR with additional resources to facilitate the process, as well as set aside money for scoping meetings and a scientific study of fish populations around the island.
“What that looks like, I don’t know,” he said. “I clarified that this new bill would not have any regulatory language.”
House Bill 1921 proposed to make it illegal to “take, attempt to take, or possess aquatic life” within two miles of any island with a total population between 100 and 500 individuals — namely Niihau.
DLNR Chair William Aila, who testified during Wednesday’s committee hearing, says that while the DLNR appreciates the intent of the bill, it feels it is “not needed.”
“We’d rather handle this situation through the administrative rule process,” he said by phone. “My testimony was that the situation in Niihau is so complex that it requires a comprehensive solution.”
That process would allow for the development of a more detailed management scheme, provide more discussion opportunities in the local communities, and enable the DLNR to amend the rules as the need arises, he wrote in his submitted testimony for each of the bills.
“We believe that we already have the necessary legislative authorities to achieve the intent of this legislation.”
Other bills deferred Wednesday included HB 1685, which would have established a “community based subsistence fishing area” around the island to restrict fishing within one mile of the shoreline; HB 1686, which would have required the DLNR to adopt rules to regulate the harvesting of opihi from the coastal waters or nearshore waters of Niihau by nonresidents; and HB 1687, which would have prohibited commercial fishing in the same area.
Among those who submitted testimony in support of the bills were Niihau’s owners, Bruce and Leiana Robinson.
“We survive on the bounty of the ocean, and what we can grow ourselves,” they wrote. “Opihi and fish is a staple for us — we have no modern conveniences such as stores where we can purchase our food. We grow it, we gather and we fish. Opihi is a major part of our food staples.”
The Robinsons went on to discuss their belief in following a strict seasonal system, allowing resources to recover, spawn and reproduce.
“Following that system, we have always had enough to sustain our village and our people,” they wrote. “However, in recent years, people who do not belong to Niihau have decimated our resources and we have had to appeal to our legislators for kokua (help).”
Their testimony was accompanied by dozens of signatures.
The DLNR’s rulemaking process normally takes about a year, according to Aila.
• Chris D’Angelo, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or cdangelo@thegardenisland.com.
