REPORT TITLE:
Gill Net Regulations


DESCRIPTION:
Regulates the use of gill nets in Hawaiian waters.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.1289       
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO GILL NET REGULATIONS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:


 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 188, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to read as follows:
 
 3      "§188-     Gill net regulations.  (a)  No gill net shall
 
 4 remain in the water for more than four hours in any twenty-four
 
 5 hour period.  The four-hour period shall begin at the start of
 
 6 gill net deployment.  Gill net retrieval must be completed within
 
 7 the four-hour period.
 
 8      (b)  A diver shall be present during all gill net
 
 9 operations.  The diver shall physically inspect the entire gill
 
10 net two hours after gill net deployoment began and again during
 
11 retrieval to release any protected, threatened, endangered, out-
 
12 of-season, and unwanted species.  Protected, threatened, and
 
13 endangered species must be released immediately.  During
 
14 retrieval, the diver shall untangle the gill net from the ocean
 
15 bottom to prevent habitat destruction.
 
16      (c)  All gill nets must be registered and marked with
 
17 identification as provided for by the department.  Identification
 
18 shall be attached to float and weight line ends and at least
 
19 every seventy-five feet between line ends.  Commercial users
 

 
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 1 shall comply with the requirements of this subsection within
 
 2 ninety days from the effective date of this section.  Non-
 
 3 commercial users shall comply with the requirements of this
 
 4 subsection within one hundred eighty days from the effective date
 
 5 of this section.
 
 6      (d)  When in the water, all gill nets shall display marker
 
 7 buoys with identification and light reflective material attached
 
 8 as specified for by the department.  Marker buoys shall be
 
 9 attached to each end of the gill net and at least every one
 
10 hundred fifty feet between gill net ends.  Commercial users shall
 
11 comply with requirements of this subsection within ninety days of
 
12 the effective date from this section.  Noncommercial users shall
 
13 comply with the requirements of this subsection within one
 
14 hundred eighty days from the effective date of this section.
 
15      (e)  Noncommercial gill net users shall not place a length
 
16 of more than five hundred feet of gill net in the water at any
 
17 time and shall not combine gill nets with other users for the
 
18 purpose of extending the length of a gill net beyond five hundred
 
19 feet.  No gill net shall exceed twelve feet in height.
 
20      (f)  Commercial gill net users shall not place a length of
 
21 more than twelve hundred feet of gill net in the water at any
 
22 time and shall not combine their gill nets with other users for
 
23 the purpose of extending the length of the gill net beyond twelve
 

 
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 1 hundred feet.  No gill net shall exceed twelve feet in height.
 
 2      (g)  The loss, destruction, sale, trade, theft, transfer of
 
 3 ownership, or transfer of possession of gill nets shall
 
 4 immediately be reported to the departmnt or the police
 
 5 department.
 
 6      (h)  As used in this section:
 
 7      ""Gill net" means a curtain of netting constructed of
 
 8 organic or synthetic material with a legal minimum stretched mesh
 
 9 of two and three-fourths inches used primarily for securing fish
 
10 by the gills and:
 
11      (1)  Is anchored at ends or anywhere between ends to keep it
 
12           stationary; and
 
13      (2)  Is suspended anywhere in the water column between the
 
14           bottom and the surface with the aid of floats and
 
15           weights.
 
16      "Stationary" means in the same position and location from
 
17 the time of deployment until the time of retrieval.
 
18      (i)  This section shall not apply to the following net
 
19 types:  purse, seine, bag, hoop, lobster, whip, crab, throw,
 
20 commercial akule, hand scoop nets, and other nets not used as
 
21 gill nets."
 
22      SECTION 2.  Section 188-29,  Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
23 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 

 
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 1      "(a)  It is unlawful for any person to use nets made of or
 
 2 using netting, or bullpen traps, with a stretched mesh of less
 
 3 than two inches, except that:
 
 4      (1)  Pond owners or operators who hold a license issued
 
 5           under section 188-44 may use nets of smaller mesh to
 
 6           take young mullet or pua for stocking their fish ponds;
 
 7      (2)  Commercial marine licensees who hold a license issued
 
 8           under section 188-45 may use nets of smaller mesh to
 
 9           take nehu, iao, marquesan sardine, or any other species
 
10           for which an open season may be declared by the
 
11           department of land and natural resources for use as
 
12           bait;
 
13      (3)  All persons may use nets of smaller mesh to take shrimp
 
14           or opae, opelu, makiawa, or mikiawa;
 
15      (4)  Aquarium fish collectors with a valid aquarium fish
 
16           permit issued by the department pursuant to section
 
17           188-31 may use nets of smaller mesh, but not throw
 
18           nets, to fish for aquarium fish in conformance with the
 
19           conditions of the permit, provided that noncommercial
 
20           aquarium fish collectors shall be limited to a combined
 
21           total of five fish or aquatic life specimens per person
 
22           per day;
 
23      (5)  All persons may use a net with mesh of not less than
 

 
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 1           one and one-half inches to take akule; provided that no
 
 2           akule measuring less than eight and one-half inches in
 
 3           total length from the tip of the snout to the tip of
 
 4           the tail shall be taken with a net during the months of
 
 5           July, August, September, and October;
 
 6      (6)  All persons engaged in surround net fishing with scuba,
 
 7           may use nets with mesh of not less than one and one-
 
 8           half inches only to bag and transport the fish captured
 
 9           with legal gear to the shore or the boat; and
 
10      [(7) All persons engaged in stationary monofilament gill net
 
11           fishing may use monofilament gill netting with a
 
12           stretched mesh of not less than two inches until
 
13           December 31, 1996; thereafter it shall be unlawful for
 
14           any person to use stationary monofilament gill nets
 
15           made of or using monofilament gill netting with a
 
16           stretched mesh of less than two and three-fourths
 
17           inches; and]
 
18      (8)] (7)  All persons may use hand nets or scoop nets of
 
19           smaller mesh to take fish or other marine life for
 
20           noncommercial purposes only; provided that the net,
 
21           including any handle and other attachment thereto,
 
22           shall not exceed three feet in any dimension."
 
23      SECTION 3.  Section 188-30.2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 

 
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 1 repealed.
 
 2      ["188-30.2  Fishing with gill nets; prohibited.(a)  It is
 
 3 unlawful for any person engaged in gill net fishing to: 
 
 4      (1)  Leave the person's net unattended without visually
 
 5           inspecting the net every two hours and releasing or
 
 6           removing any undersized,illegal, or unwanted catch; or
 
 7      (2)  Leave the net in the water for a period of more than
 
 8           four hours in any twenty-four-hour period. 
 
 9      (b) For purposes of this section, "gill net" means a
 
10 curtainlike net suspended in the water with mesh openings large
 
11 enough to permit only the heads of the fish to pass through,
 
12 ensnaring them around the gills when they attempt to escape."]
 
13      SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
14 New statutory material is underscored.
 
15      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
16 
 
17                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________