(HONOLULU) – The Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR)approved a rule today to make it illegal to take any species of sea cucumber from Hawaii State waters for the next 120 days. This is in response to an investigation by officers of the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), who confirmed that a new commercial fishery recently started. The investigation was supported further by public observations. Governor David Ige is expected to quickly follow the BLNR approval by signing the emergency administrative rules.
Aquatic Resources
(HONOLULU) – The Department of Land and Natural Resources has been investigating and has now confirmed a new commercial fishery in which mass harvesting of sea cucumbers is occurring on both Oahu and Maui. Additionally, recent reports from the public confirm the harvesting of large quantities of sea cucumber on both Oahu and Maui. While taking sea cucumbers from the ocean is not against the law, any commercial harvesting does require a license.
LIHU‘E, KAUA‘I -- June is National Great Outdoors Month! Started in 1998 by President Bill Clinton, it is a month for people around the country to get outside and enjoy the natural beauty around us. Surrounded by ocean and full of freshwater rivers and streams, fishing is one of the best ways to enjoy the natural resources of Kaua‘i.
HONOLULU – A new type of microscopic lesion, termed colony-wide protein losing cytopathology (CPLC), was associated with of an unusual die-off of corals (Montipora capitata) in central Kaneohe Bay in early February. The cause of CPLC is not known.
KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII – A Kona fishing charter boat captain died today after being fatally injured by a broadbill swordfish he had just speared in Honokohau small boat harbor on Hawaii Island
HONOLULU— The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) reminds the public that the moi fishing season is closed beginning Monday, June 1, 2015. State regulations make it unlawful for any person to take, possess, or sell any moi during June, July, and August.
Honolulu – Maui beaches, which had been closed for one mile in each direction from the location of yesterday’s fatal shark incident at Kanahena (Dumps) in the Ahihi Kinau Natural Area Reserve on Maui, were reopened as of 12 noon today.
HONOLULU – Black Band disease was found at nearly half of the reef sites surveyed for the presence of the disease in near-shore waters on Kauai. These are the findings contained in a final report authored by the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB). Researcher Chris Runyon and her team surveyed 47 coral reef sites over the past year and found the disease in 23 (48%) of them. Runyon said, “A weak relationship was found between the abundance of the disease and water temperature. The lesions caused by black band disease become more active in the summer.” Previous work established the disease is affecting three species of Montipora, or rice, corals and also showed disease "hotspots" at Makua and Anini beaches.
MAKENA, MAUI -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has closed Makena State Park and ocean waters from Big Beach to La Perouse light house to swimmers, divers, and other ocean users. This is in response to a fatal shark bite this morning in the Kanahena Cove area of Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve. DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officers, Division of Aquatic Resources staff, and County lifeguards are on scene to investigate and warn the public. Shark warning signs are being posted. Further details about the incident are pending.
(Honolulu) – On March 25, two critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals (Neomonachus schauinslandi) were successfully returned to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument after being rehabilitated at The Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola Hawaiian Monk Seal Hospital in Kona. The seals were rescued last year in an emaciated state, one on Kure Atoll and another on Laysan Island, during NOAA Fisheries Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program’s field camp season.