Boating & Ocean Recreations

(HONOLULU) – When canoe paddlers and other volunteers from Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii arrive to clean up the mess at Keehi Lagoon Beach Park on Oahu tomorrow, staff from the DLNR Divisions of Aquatic Resources (DAR) and Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) will be on hand to provide expertise and assistance. The beach park is not under State jurisdiction. Beginning in 1953 a series of Executive Orders (EO’s) transferred control of Keehi Lagoon Beach Park and its nearshore waters from the State to the City and County of Honolulu.

HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is closing state forest and park areas on the islands of Hawaii and Maui, in anticipation of the effects of tropical storm Darby this weekend.

HONOLULU -- Water service was restored this afternoon to Keehi small boat harbor administrative and harbor offices, restrooms, boat washdown and piers. The offices will reopen tomorrow morning.

HONOLULU -- Keehi small boat harbor administrative and harbor offices and restrooms were closed today at noon and services suspended, due to a 6-inch water main break caused when a contractor drilling fence holes drilled into the harbor water line.

HONOLULU -- Starting next Monday, July 18, 2016, construction will begin to repair the old and damaged loading dock on the south side of Heeia-Kea Small Boat Harbor boat launch ramp. The project will include replacement of structural members beneath the deck, installation of new fendering, and new cleats. Project contractor is Ke Nui Construction, LLC, and cost is $68,750.

HONOLULU -- An overturned boat that has been spotted from the air several times since three fishermen were reportedoverdue northwest of Oahu, on Monday July 4, has been found on a remote beach on Kauai’s north shore.

HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) yesterday began construction of improvements at the Maunalua Bay boat launch ramp to expand the vessel washdown area and construct a roadway around it. Work is scheduled to continue this week and next week.

(HONOLULU) – Two DLNR Divisions and the Mālama Pūpūkea -Waimea Makai Watch program teamed up over the weekend for the first “Splash” event, created to continue support and evaluation of the Makai Watch program, provide education on rules and regulations, and also address people’s perceptions about the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) in our local communities.

HILO) – At Sunday’s 13th annual Tokunaga Ulua Challenge Fishing Tournament weigh-in, you’d hear a call for “Mr. Barbless Hook.” That would be Kurt Kawamoto, a fisheries biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. Kawamoto earned the moniker as the driving force behind the NOAA and DLNR Barbless Circle Hook Project. Each time a fish caught with a barbless circle hook weighed in, Kawamoto stepped forward to slap a special sticker on it, and hopefully to see a new record. Since initiating the program more than a decade ago, ulua and other fish caught by shoreline fishermen with barbless hooks have weighed in at one hundred pounds or more; winning more than just a few tournaments.

WAHIAWA, OAHU – The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of State Parks will completely close the boat ramp and parking area at the Wahiawa Freshwater State Recreation Area, on Walker Avenue, from June 13 through July 1, 2016 and reopen on July 2, 2016.