Aquatic Resources

(HONOLULU) – More than two years ago, workers from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources’ Ānuenue Coral Restoration Nursery on Sand Island Access Road embarked on a novel, first-of-its-kind endeavor, to “fast-grow” what are typically slow growing species of native Hawaiian coral species. 

(HONOLULU) – Had it been something other than a sharp fishing knife perhaps the video would have been endearing?  A Hawaiian monk seal pup named Manu‘iwa recently weaned from its mother on a Hawai‘i Island beach.  Staff from Ke Kai Ola, a hospital operated by The Marine Mammal Center at Kailua-Kona and officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) have been monitoring the pup’s health and growth. 

(HONOLULU) – Two men received citations from DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) officers on March 30th at Kahana Bay on O‘ahu’s windward coast.

LIHU‘E – Tips on how to catch more trout at Pu‘u Lua reservoir in Koke‘e will be the subject of two free evening classes being offered on April 16 and 18 on Kaua‘i, by the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources. No registration is required.

(HONOLULU) – State and Federal agencies are tracking what is described as a very large marine debris field or net mass last spotted in the Ka Iwi Channel between Moloka‘i and O‘ahu, about 12 nautical miles south of O‘ahu. The marine debris was first reported by a fisherman last Saturday, who saw it 9.5 miles south of Koko Crater and 3.5 miles from penguin banks. The fisher described it as being two nautical miles long and containing massive amounts of nets, ropes, buoys, crates and drums.

HONOLULU --  People who sell the fish they catch in Hawaiian waters are required to have a commercial marine license (CML), whether they’re full-time fishers or “weekend warriors.”  At its December 8, 2017 meeting, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved an increase in the annual commercial marine license fee, from $50 per year to $100.  The increase becomes effective January 16, 2018.

(Honolulu) - DLNR announced today that after applying a Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruling from last year to an existing DLNR rule, no aquatic life may be taken for commercial aquarium purposes off West Hawai‘i until an environmental review is completed.

(KANEOHE) – The carcass of a three and a half ton Humpback whale that stranded on a reef just off of Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i (MCBH), was successfully removed today. It’s believe the carcass may be the same one spotted off Haleiwa earlier in the week.  In Kaneohe Bay the carcass split into two major pieces, with the whale’s skull sticking out of the water a short distance from the main carcass.

(HONOLULU) – The carcass of a badly decomposed Humpback whale washed onto a near-shore reef at Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i (MCBH) late yesterday. There’s a good possibility this is the same carcass that was first seen off the beach at Haleiwa earlier this week – it was towed eight miles offshore by a private dive company but ocean currents may have brought it back to shore at Kaneohe.

(Haleiwa, O‘ahu) -  The badly decomposed carcass of a Humpback whale that nearly washed on shore at Haleiwa on Christmas Day, is in the process of being towed out to deep ocean waters this afternoon. A private dive company, One Ocean Diving, first towed the carcass away from Haleiwa on Sunday and today volunteered to go ahead and tow it further offshore.  Yesterday the remains were towed three miles offshore by one of the company’s boats and this afternoon, based on drift pattern modeling provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, it was towed an additional ten miles offshore, due north of Haleiwa.