(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) – Late Sunday night into the wee hours of Memorial Day, officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement and the Honolulu Police Dept. worked to clear an estimated 200 people from a beach at the Mokuleia Section of Ka‘ena Point State Park on O‘ahu’s North Shore. Witnesses report the crowd was even bigger earlier in the evening.

(Honolulu) – At the peak, an estimated 35 boats were anchored at the Kaneohe sandbar (Ahu O Laka) on Saturday, the first day of the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend. A team of six officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), patrolled the area, educating people and watching for violations.

(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) – All of the O‘ahu Offshore Island State Seabird Sanctuaries, normally listed as open for restricted access, remain closed until further notice and are not covered by Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s opening of beaches. Those islands are Mokuauia, Popoia, Kapapa, and the Mokulua Islands.

(Honolulu) – Sacred Falls State Park has been closed 21-years, after a Mother’s Day 1999 rockslide killed eight people and seriously hurt dozens of others. In spite of hundreds of trespassers getting citations for entering a closed area since then, continued rockfalls and landslides in the park, and numerous encouragements for people to stay out, they continue to come.

(Līhue) – Kaua‘i hunters are invited to apply for Special Use Permits that allow for some additional days of the week to hunt goats, pigs and deer in all existing hunting Units EXCEPT Units A, B and L. Many hunting areas on Kaua‘i are open on weekends (Friday-Monday) only.  Beginning Monday May 18, 2020 licensed hunters may hunt more days of the week by submitting an online application at www.KauaiForestUsers.com.  Permits will be processed several times a week; not every day due to a lack of staff.

(Honolulu) – The reconstruction of the existing, 93-year-old Royal Hawaiian Groin in Waikīkī and the construction of a new $1.5 million replacement begins next week.

(Honolulu) – In order to provide the DLNR and the Board of Land and Natural Resources relevant information, including community input, into whether Mauna Kea is being effectively managed, the department is launching an independent evaluation of the University of Hawai‘i’s (UH) compliance with the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP).

(Kailua-Kona) – A citizen reported a large gathering of people and cars at Alula Beach (near Honokohau Small Boat Harbor) to the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) early Wednesday afternoon. DOCARE officers responded to the beach and observed numerous people not engaging in permitted activity outlined in the State’s current emergency rules.