Land Board Heeds Community’s Wishes In New Rules for Miloli‘i Fishing Area
On June 9, seventeen years after the Legislature designated Miloli`i as a Community Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA), the state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved rules defining it.
In addition to establishing boundaries and various zones, the rules set size and/or bag limits for pāku`iku`i, kole, uhu, opihi, and ula; seasonal restrictions on kole, ōpelu, `ū`ū, and uhu; and prohibitions on the take of terminal males (blue) of the larger uhu species, female ‘a‘ama with eggs, `opihi kō`ele, and aquarium fish.
In February, the board approved the rules to go out to public hearings. At that meeting, over objections from some community members, the board amended the rules that the community had helped draft. The Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources had recommended reducing the allowable take of pāku`iku`i (Achilles tang), from five to one, and to enlarge the no-take zone for the scarce fish.
During the comment period on the rules, many Miloli`i residents submitted oral and written testimony to the division supporting the CBSFA rules but calling for the reinstatement of their original proposed boundaries for the pākuʻikuʻi rest area. They also asked for “kapu loa” (no take) of pākuʻikuʻi throughout the CBSFA to be established until an agreed upon sunset date of five years. This highest protection from kānaka behavior is the commitment we support to assist the recovery of their abundance,” stated Kaʻimi Kaupiko, executive director of the group Kalanihale, which submitted the draft rules to the DLNR.
“After a period of five years, kapu loa is to remain in place for the Pākuʻikuʻi Rest Area and a bag limit of five per person per day throughout the rest of the CBSFA,” he wrote.
When DAR brought the rules package back to the Land Board on June 9 for final approval, it recommended following the communityʻs wishes to stick with the original pākuʻikuʻi rest area boundaries. The division also proposed amending the rules section on the pāku’iku‘i bag limit to read: “At any time before July 1, 2027, it is unlawful to take or possess any pāku‘iku‘i. . . . Notwithstanding any other more restrictive law applicable to the taking of pāku‘iku‘i, at any time on or after July 1, 2027, it is unlawful to take or possess. . . [m]ore than five pāku‘iku‘i per person per day or [a]ny pāku‘iku‘i less than five inches in length.”
DAR recommended these changes despite its concerns, and those of Land Board chair Suzanne Case, that a pākuʻikuʻi bag limit of five after the no-take period is lifted may not be sustainable.
“Pākuʻikuʻi abundance has declined by a range of 50-95 percent in juvenile habitat areas and by 90 percent in shallow water adult habitats. … Additionally, surveys across West Hawaiʻi have indicated that juvenile recruitment of pākuʻikuʻi has been very low over the past two decades, indicating that recovery will be slow for this species. Pāku‘iku‘i is a long-lived fish, with a life span of 30-40 years, but very small in numbers, so it is extremely vulnerable to overfishing. It is a slow-moving fish, found in small clusters of several fish, in shallow reef habitat in the wash of the waves close to shore, so is very easily caught. … [P]ākuʻikuʻi in any area could be easily wiped out in one day,” the division states in its June 9 report to the Land Board,
“However,” it continues, “the Department acknowledges that the CBSFA rules should reflect the needs of the community proposing them and that developing regional or statewide rules for pāku‘iku‘i, potentially utilizing the adaptive management process … is a more appropriate avenue to address its concerns. That way the current rules can move forward as proposed by the Miloli‘i community while DAR decides how best to address the regional decline in pāku‘iku‘i. DAR’s efforts will include engaging in monitoring, supporting life history research, developing a management plan for pāku‘iku‘i, and drafting rules as determined to be appropriate from the results of the monitoring and as outlined in the management plan. [where is the close quote?]
With DAR’s proposed amendments, several members of the Miloli`i community and others who aided in the process testified in support of the rules, which the Land Board unanimously approved.
Legacy Land Grants
Preserving lands with a mix of public and private funding takes time. Sometimes, it takes a very long time. And in recent years, the state’s Legacy Land Conservation Program has been reviewing those projects that have languished for at least five years since receiving Land Board approval for funding to determine if funding should be rescinded.
On June 24, program director David Penn asked the Land Board to defer taking any action on a project first approved in 2013, to allow the parties involved to try to close the deal in the next year or so.
If they are successful, 3.4 acres abutting the Ulupō Heiau in Kailua, Oʻahu, will join lands already controlled by the DLNR’s Division of State Parks.
The Land Board had approved a grant of $1 million from the Land Conservation Fund for the $1.73 million purchase. State Parks has secured $800,000 in federal and private matching funds.
“We have been making substantial project, albeit slowly,” Penn told the board.
The deal has taken so long to close because the YMCA, which owns the property to be acquired, had to subdivide it, and State Parks has had to hire an engineer to assess the cost to rectify the impacts of a drainage canal through property.
Safety measures regarding the channel are expected to cost $250,000 to $300,000, but Penn said State Parks believes it has funds to address this.
In addition, a review of state Department of Health records revealed that there may be lead contamination on the property, which would require the YMCA to do a Phase 2 environmental site assessment to see if remediation is needed.
“YMCA would need to remediate before state takes title,” he said.
Newbies
On May 13, the Land Board approved $4.25 million across three grants aimed at protecting more than 900 acres.
To date, Penn said, the Legacy Land Conservation Program has conserved 43 properties statewide.
The newest grantees include the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, which will be receiving $3 million from the Land Conservation Fund to acquire more than 642 acres at Mahukona, along the Kohala coast of the Big Island, that encompass a navigational and ecological complex.
In April, the Land Board authorized its chair to negotiate an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a sub-grant of $4 million to the trust for the Mahukona purchase.
The $3 million Legacy Land award is one of the largest grants the program has ever given. It’s also the first application to include a fully executed conservation easement to be held by the County of Hawai`i and a grant of a conservation easement as part of the transaction, Penn said.
The trust was also expected to receive $8 million from the Hawaiʻi County open space fund.
At the April meeting, DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife administrator Dave Smith said the Mahukona lands, which include an ancient navigational training site, were being threatened with development.
“The coastline is loaded with archaeological sites. They were going to put a resort there. I thought, ‘What a shame.’ Here, we have an opportunity to buy it,” Smith said.
Shae Kamakaʻala, a director of the trust, added that the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat traverses the area, shearwaters nest there, and monk seals haul up along the shoreline in one of the little bays.
The Land Board also approved a grant of $1 million to the DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife to purchase nearly 258 acres of watershed on Maui. The Pohakea watershed lands are located along Honoapiʻilani Highway, across from the Maui Ocean Center, and span the ahupuaʻa of Ukumehame and Wailuku.
“Part of the Mā`alaea Conservation Corridor, the property connects with nearby landmarks such as Kealia National Wildlife Refuge, the National Marine Whale Sanctuary, Maui Ocean Center, Pacific Whale Foundation headquarters, and a petroglyph site on adjacent state land. This project is important for public safety. Under public ownership, the property will be managed to decrease risks from wildfire, erosion and flooding and will ensure long term health of the watersheds, wetlands, and coastal marine areas. If the property is sold to another private owner, there is no way to ensure future stewardship and management activities will align with the community vision,” states DOFAW’s report to the Land Board.
While the board approved the grant, it was not before Penn and DOFAW’s Scott Fretz reported on an unfortunate wrinkle in the plan: The seller that DOFAW had been working with sold the property.
“Negotiations are in progress with a brand new landowner who just bought the property,” Penn said.
Fretz said that the move was “completely unexpected.” Still, he said, the new owner owns other property on Maui and is a watershed partnership member. “He’s traveling. His associates encouraged us to stay the course,” he said, and urged the Land Board to allow negotiations to continue.
Finally, the Land Board approved a grant of $675,000 to Ke Ao Haliʻi, a community group on Maui that is working to preserve several parcels in Hana.
The group had originally asked for about $2.6 million to protect 126 acres. “Unfortunately, the day before the [Legacy Land Conservation Council] met to review and rank the Fiscal Year 2022 applications, the landowner sold four of the five parcels proposed in the Ke Ao Hali`i application. Based on the information presented at the LLCC meeting, the LLCC recommended an award of $675,000 for the remaining available parcel, approximately 8.58 acres,” DOFAW report states.
The lands are currently used for grazing, but Ke Ao Haliʻi plans to fence the area to deter desecration of the archeological sites there. There are three known heiau in close proximity – Hale O Lono Heiau, the Kaluanui Heiau, and Pakiokio Heiau.
The group expects to receive $237,500 in matching funds from private sources, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Maui County, and others.
— Teresa Dawson
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