LIHU‘E – The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) announces an open fishing season for rainbow trout in the Koke‘e Public Fishing Area (PFA) on Kaua‘i, beginning Saturday, June 17, 2017.
Aquatic Resources
HONOLULU – If you love your fresh-caught local lobster or Kona crab, remember the closed season for ula (spiny lobster), ula papapa (slipper lobster) and Kona crab runs from May 1 through the end of August. During that time it's illegal to take, possess, or sell these shellfish.
After wildlife biologists and veterinarians relocated a 10-month-old Hawaiian monk seal on March 30th from the Lihi Canal in Kapa‘a, to a beach on the island’s west side they’d hoped she would stay away from the canal. Two days ago the seal, identified as RH92, returned to the canal along with an adult seal (RK13). Together they’ve been seen feeding on small fish in the manmade waterway along with discarded fish parts. The return of RH92 to Lihi is prompting stepped-up public awareness and outreach and potentially enforcement of littering laws for fishermen who dispose of fish parts in the water.
Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources are working together to try and understand what led to the death of an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, tagged as RB18.
HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and the U.S. Secretaries of Interior and Commerce have signed an updated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) adding OHA as a co-trustee of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. It is the largest, contiguous, fully protected conservation area in the U.S. and encompasses 583,000 square miles of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
HONOLULU -- The Waikiki-Diamond Head Shoreline Fisheries Management Area (SFMA), O‘ahu, will be closed to fishing for one year, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
WAILUKU, MAUI -- A groundbreaking ceremony yesterday at the Maui Annex state building at 130 Mahalani Street is preparing the way for demolition of the 57-year old building, and construction starting in early 2017, of a new 7,000 square-foot building on the one-acre state parcel that has housed four divisions of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
KAPA`A, KAUA‘I -- A large fishing net, estimated to weigh about two tons, was removed from the beach at Kapa‘a fronting the Coral Reef Resort, yesterday.
HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources Divisions of Aquatic Resources (DAR), State Historic Preservation (SHPD), and Engineering offices on Maui will close next week, starting Monday December 5-9, as staff move out of their current location at 130 Mahalani Street in Wailuku, and set up at a temporary location in the Māʻalaea Small Boat Harbor.
HONOLULU — Spawning season is here for ‘ama‘ama (striped mullet), which puts the popular nearshore fish off-limits from December through March. “‘Ama‘ama are about to enter their peak spawning season, which increases their vulnerability to fishing pressure,” said Bruce Anderson, DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources administrator. “The annual winter closure is designed to help the fish reproduce successfully and protect the species from overfishing.”