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Regulations for Pollution, Not Just Fishermen

There was once a time when Hawai‘i and federal officials exclusively blamed fishermen for declining fish populations. According to The Maui News, Luna Kekoa, a public liaison for proposed DLNR fish regulations, acknowledged in a scoping session that fishing is not the only culprit for smaller fish populations. Warming ocean temperatures and poor water quality also degrade fishing and marine ecosystems.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) is undertaking DLNR’s Marine 30×30 initiative, with the goal of actively managing 30 percent of Hawai‘i waters by 2030. The DAR is proposing to change reef fish fishing regulations, including fish size, maturity rules and bag limits.

The DAR calls reef fish herbivores and has published a DAR “Sustainable Herbivore Management Plan.” This plan was formulated after holding sixteen Zoom scoping sessions, ten last November and six last March. The Zoom meeting where Luna acknowledged the effects of pollution was held on Maui in December.

Diving into the “Sustainable Herbivore Management Plan,” Luna said uhu and kala populations are considered unsustainable. Proposed regulations would prohibit taking kala that are smaller than 15 inches and limiting take to two fish per person. For full-bodied uhu, the proposed rule would prohibit the take of fish smaller than 14 inches in length. The