In an effort to facilitate compliance with the rules regulating the take, possession, and sale of lobsters, Kona crabs, and Samoan crabs in State waters, the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) has scheduled public hearings this month. Currently, these species are regulated under statute as well as multiple administrative rule chapters. The proposed consolidation will ...
Read More Statewide hearings scheduled for proposed updates to rules pertaining to lobster, Kona crabs, and Samoan crabs
Hawaiian waters are experiencing their third widespread coral bleaching event since 2014, and the Division of Aquatic Resources is asking ocean users to take specific steps to help reduce its severity. Division staff are distributing cards to dive shops statewide with tips on how to help our reefs. They include: Let fish protect reefs – ...
Read More Warming ocean brings coral bleaching back to Hawaiian waters
Four of the 12 Bottomfish Restricted Fishing Areas (BRFAs) around the state are scheduled to re-open to Deep-7 bottomfish fishing on July 1, 2019. They include BRFA C (Makahū‘ena, Kaua‘i), BRFA F (Penguin Banks), BRFA J (Mokumana-Umalei Pt, Maui), and BRFA L (Leleiwi Pt, Hawai‘i Island). (See map.) Non-commercial fishers are still limited to taking ...
Read More Four Bottomfish Restricted Fishing Areas will re-open July 1
Open season for rainbow trout will begin June 15, 2019 in the Kōke‘e Public Fishing Area (PFA) on Kaua‘i. Anglers may fish daily from June 15 to September 30, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Trout are found in streams and ditch systems within the PFA, but fishing success has been poor there due to ...
Read More Annual rainbow trout season at Kōkeʻe, Kauaʻi opens June 15
An information and scoping meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 21, 2019, at which staff from the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) will present details of recent scientific studies and their implication for management concerns at Molokini Crater. The meeting will be held from 5:30 –8:00 pm at the Kihei Community Center (303 E. Lipoa ...
Read More Molokini scoping meeting to be held Thursday, March 21
The Division of Aquatic Resources will submit the following agenda item at the January 11, 2019 meeting of the Board of Land and Natural Resources: “Request to open the following existing Main Hawaiian Islands Bottomfish Restricted Fishing Areas (BRFAs): BRFA C (Poipu, Kauai), BRFA F (Penguin Banks), BRFA J (Hana, Maui) and BRFA L (Leleiwi, ...
Read More DAR proposes opening four bottomfish restricted fishing areas
The Division of Aquatic Resources has received the Final Report from the Study Group for the Feasibility of a Non-Commercial Marine Fishing Registry, Permit, or License System for Hawai‘i. The Study Group was jointly convened by Conservation International Hawai‘i and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, and consisted of fisheries resource managers, experts, and ...
Read More Feasibility of a non-commercial marine fishing registry, permit, or license system in Hawai‘i
The annual fishing season for rainbow trout in the Kōke‘e Public Fishing Area on Kaua‘i will open on Saturday, June 16, 2018. Anglers may fish daily from June 16 through Sept. 30, 2018. Fishing hours will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m, and the daily bag limit for this year will be ten (10) rainbow trout per ...
Read More Annual rainbow trout season at Kōke‘e, Kaua‘i opens June 16
A compound commonly found in sunscreens has been shown to cause serious harm to corals, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is asking people who enter the ocean to avoid using sunscreens which contain oxybenzone. A recent study has shown that oxybenzone causes deformities in coral larvae (planulae), making them unable to ...
Read More DLNR asks ocean users to avoid sunscreens with oxybenzone
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. ...
Read More Commercial Marine License fee increase now effective