Remembering A Giant: News of the passing of Hampton Carson last December was greeted with sadness by members of Hawai‘i’s environmental community. Carson, an emeritus professor of genetics at the University of Hawai‘i, had done path-breaking research into the evolu tion of Hawaiian fruit flies, but he had expanded his professional interests to include concerns with all native Hawaiian species. Among his many notable achievements, he will be remem bered for his eloquence in the fight against geothermal energy development in the 1980s and early 1990s and his contribution to a presti gious National Academy of Sciences report on ways to save the ‘alala. His was a powerful, authoritative voice for conservation and it will surely be missed.
Kawaihae Knock-Down: The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision that tossed out plans by the Hawaiian Homes Commission and a private company headed up by Albert Hee to build a cogeneration plant on Hawaiian home lands at Kawaihae. Among its findings, the high court determined that Hawai‘i’s environmental disclosure law, Chap ter 343, applies to lands under the commission’s jurisdiction. And, in a finding that could have wide-ranging impact on how the Department of Land and Natural Resources issues its leases, the Supreme Court determined that compliance with Chapter 343 must be satisfied before a valid lease can be issued.
The full decision is available on line at the Hawai‘i Supreme Court’s website: www.courts.state.hi.us; follow the links to Janu ary 2005 rulings and call up Kepo‘o v. Kane (January 4, 2005). Additional background on the case was summarized in the December 1999 Environment Hawai‘i. That, too, is available online: www.environment-hawaii.org
It’s Official: For years, scientists have been concerned about declining stocks of bigeye tuna in Pacific waters. Now, the species has been officially classified as overfished by the National Marine Fisheries Service. That means that the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council must take measures to rebuild fish stocks, work ing against a mid-June deadline for action. When the council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee meets this month and the full council meets in March, expect the bigeye to occupy center stage. (See Calendar for meeting dates.)
In all likelihood, says Paul Dalzell, a scientist on the council’s staff, “we’ll have to initially manage bigeye as a quota fishery. We could take the existing level of catch, and reduce that, with everyone getting a slice of the pie commensurate with their historical participation in the fish ery.” Given Hawai`i’s meager share of the over all take of bigeye, to say nothing of the even smaller haul by West Coast boats, “anything the United States does won’t amount to a hill of beans when it comes to affecting bigeye stock,” he adds.
Corrections: Judge Elizabeth Eden Hifo is a judge of the First Circuit Court. In the January article on Kaua‘i water issues, Environment Hawai‘i incorrectly identified her as a state Supreme Court justice. In the article on the ‘Iao aquifer, a letter from George Tengan of the Maui Department of Water Supply was errone ously quoted. He questioned the use of the subjunctive tense in a letter he had received from the Water Commission, not the subjective tense.
Volume 15, Number 8 February 2005
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