Department of Land and Natural Resources

(HONOLULU) – The State and four non-profit organizations have teamed up to create a new statewide number to report marine debris. Derelict fishing gear, like nets, is responsible for entangling marine life like turtles and humpback whales.

(Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area, Hawai‘i Island) – The designation of Hāpuna Beach as the top-rated beach in the U.S., by Stephen Leatherman (aka Dr. Beach), highlights the continuing paradox of protecting the features that make it #1 while sharing it with ever-increasing throngs of visitors. This was Dr. Beach’s 30th annual ranking of best beaches. 

(KAILUA-KONA) – Two, half-day closures on May 28 and 29 at Waialea Bay Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD), will allow corals to spawn and produce new keiki.  The beach at Waialea is known locally as Beach 69 and the 35-acre bay is one of eleven MLCDs in Hawai‘i, which enjoy the highest level of protection for their invaluable marine resources. 

(HONOLULU) – These arms carry plates and twenty of them are anchored with cinder blocks in commercial harbors around the state. ARMS stands for Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures. They’ve been deployed in Honolulu and Barbers Point Harbors on O‘ahu, Nawiliwili Harbor on Kaua‘i, Kahului Harbor on Maui, and Hilo Harbor on Hawai‘i Island.  In the last few weeks, researchers from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) have been diving to collect ARMS structures. 

(HONOLULU) – Dec. 22, 2009, is a day seared in Earl Miyamoto’s memory. He was on “pup watch,” keeping a close eye on a mother Hawaiian monk seal and her newborn on a remote beach in the Poʻipū area of Kaua‘i. 

(Līhuʻe) – Personnel from three DLNR divisions participated in a challenging operation yesterday, to remove an unattended, illegally moored, 29-foot sailboat from the South Shore Ocean Recreation Management Area (ORMA) on Kaua‘i. 

(Honolulu) – In an effort to salvage highly valuable corals severely damaged in Honolulu Harbor’s channel, the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) has taken emergency action to recover as many living pieces as possible. The damage took place two weeks ago and was caused by a dredging platform’s anchor and cable dragging over numerous coral colonies. 

 (HONOLULU) – Community members reported a man taking ‘opihi (limpets) from shoreline rocks within the Pūpūkea Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD).  Friday afternoon, a DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources (DOCARE) officer cited 55-year-old Roland Ching for violating Hawai‘i Administrative Rules relating to prohibited activities within the MLCD. He has no local address. 

(HONOLULU) – Today, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) fined 54-year-old Wayne Keaulana Spatz, of Hilo, $633,840 for pouring poison into Pāheʻeheʻe Stream in North Hilo resulting in the deaths of an estimated 6,250 Tahitian prawns. This is the largest BLNR fine ever for an aquatic resource violation in the state.

(HONOLULU) – The State is investigating the circumstances associated with what is described as significant damage to corals and live rock near the entrance channel to Honolulu Harbor.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracted dredging work to the Healy Tibbets Corporation. It is alleged the contractor dragged the dredging platform’s anchor and cable across coral colonies and deposited dredged material on corals.