Department of Land and Natural Resources

PUBLIC INVITED TO SECOND DLNR MEETING
ON BUOY PLACEMENT IN HILO WATERS

HILO —The Department of and Natural Resources (DLNR) is hosting the second of two public meetings to seek input on where day use mooring buoys should be placed in the waters in and around Hilo Bay, as part of a coral mitigation plan for Hilo Harbor that the Army Corps of Engineers permitted for the dredging of the Hilo harbor channel by the state Department of Transportation (DOT).

DLNR is working to implement the mitigation plan, and the meeting will cover the purpose of the day use mooring program, the modified draft list of day use mooring buoy locations, and public feedback to develop a priority ranking for these sites.

The meeting will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, in the Aupuni State Building first floor conference rooms A and B, 75 Aupuni St., Hilo.  A previous meeting was held on April 18, 2013.

To install a series of day use moorings in Hilo, a draft list of appropriate sites will be developed based upon the advice of a core group of fishermen and professionals familiar with the waters off of Hilo.

Boaters, fishers, commercial dive operators and other ocean users who frequent Hilo Bay and especially Blonde Reef, and are interested in preserving this resource, are urged to consider attending.

Previously, the need for day use mooring buoys in the Hilo area was not recognized, primarily because there was no overt request from charter boats for their deployment.

During surveys of Blonde Reef for the artificial reef initially proposed as mitigation for the project, a variety of abandoned anchors was seen littering the bottom and coral cover was much higher than anticipated.  The need for buoys to offset damage from recreational users over this reef is apparent but has not been documented.

Because Hilo Bay has multiple user groups (cruising sailboat moorings, sailing, canoe, paddling, jet skis, free diving, Scuba, and bottom fishing), it is imperative to coordinate the location of day use mooring buoys to serve multiple purposes appropriate with multiple user types.

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For more information, news media may contact:

Deborah Ward
DLNR Public Information Specialist
Phone: (808) 587-0320