Department of Land and Natural Resources

(Līhuʻe) – One reef monitoring project by the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) staff on Kauaʻi has focused efforts at ʻAnini Reef over the past year. Recently monitoring teams observed signs of recovery since a prolific coral disease was recorded in September-October of 2019.

(Honolulu) – Dogs, by instinct, chase things, and in the case of resting Hawaiian monk seals and other wildlife, this natural trait can have serious and even deadly consequences. Last week a couple of off-leash dogs approached a seal pup resting in a coastal area of O‘ahu, threatening the animal. 

(Līhuʻe) – The fishing season for rainbow trout at Pu’u Lua Reservoir on Kaua‘i will begin June 20th. To address COVID-19 concerns and accommodate social distancing, a lottery system will be used to control entry. Anglers will be able to access the reservoir for 4-hour sessions scheduled between June 20th and July 11, 2020 on Saturdays and Sundays.

(Honolulu) – In the world of nursery raised corals, a one-meter coral is considered big. Yesterday, a team of biologists and technicians from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) planted what is believed to be the largest coral to be grown in a land-based nursery.

(Honolulu) - In a 7-0 decision Friday, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) voted to reject an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed aquarium fishing in West Hawaiʻi. The over 2000-page EIS had been produced by a group of ten West Hawaiʻi aquarium fishers and the National Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, on their proposal to ask the DLNR to issue permits to the ten aquarium fishers. The proposed permits themselves were not before the BLNR for decision.

(Honolulu) – Hawai‘i’s struggling fisheries could be getting some help.  On Thursday, the Secretary of Commerce announced the allocation of $300 million in fisheries assistance funding provided by the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act). This funding is to states, tribes, and territories with coastal and marine fisheries who have been negatively affected by COVID–19.

(Kailua-Kona) – Kahalu‘u Bay on Hawai‘i Island is one of the most popular and heavily visited snorkeling locations in all of Hawai‘i. Hundreds of thousands of people come to view colorful fish and dazzling coral colonies every year, and like in many other over-used locations, the aquatic life in the bay is struggling to survive.

 (Honolulu) – Hawaiian monk seals, green sea turtles and other marine animals that frequent our shores have largely had near-shore waters and beaches to themselves for the past six weeks. With today’s announcement of the reopening of select DLNR Division of State Parks units across the state, park managers and aquatic biologists are reminding people to be respectful of the places we share with Hawai‘i’s treasured marine creatures.

(Kailua) – With three successive “fire-in-the-hole” warnings, LT Jordan Bethke of the U.S. Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team (Detachment Mid-Pacific) set off C-4 explosives attached to two potential Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) off Lanikai Beach this afternoon.

(Honolulu) – For more than 20 years, the sight of monk seal R5AY, known as Honey Girl, delighted hundreds of people, as she rested on and gave birth to at least a dozen pups on O‘ahu and Kaua‘i beaches. Yesterday NOAA fisheries received notification that she was found dead on a windward O‘ahu beach.