Report Title:

Marine Resource Management

Description:

Requires the Department of Land and Natural Resources to demonstrate a scientific need prior to prohibiting or limiting fishing in any public fishing area.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2881

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO MARINE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds and declares that:

(1) Fishing in Hawaii is a tradition woven into our island communities and local cultures that have been passed down for generations;

(2) According to the Hawaii marine recreational survey conducted by the department of land and natural resources, division of aquatic resources, fishing continues to be the most popular outdoor activity statewide with an estimated two hundred thousand participants per year of all ages;

(3) Sustainable fisheries, both recreational and commercial, need to be managed with sound science;

(4) Fishermen have long demonstrated a conservation ethic, by annually contributing over $500,000,000 to state fisheries conservation management programs and projects nationally through payment of federal excise taxes on fishing equipment, motorboats and fuel, as well as license fees;

(5) According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, commercial fisheries contributed more than $57,000,000 to the state's economy in 2004, as Honolulu is ranked 8th nationally in ex-vessel value landings;

(6) According to 2001 American Sportfishing Association data, recreational fishing contributed as much as $184,000,000 to Hawaii's economy;

(7) It is a longstanding policy of the federal government to allow public access to public lands and waters for recreational purposes consistent with sound conservation. The policy is reflected in the National Forest Management Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act, Wilderness Act, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the National Park Service Act;

(8) In most instances, fishery resources can be maintained through a variety of management measures, including take limits, minimum size requirements, catch and release, and closed seasons without restricting access to public fishing areas;

(9) A clear policy is required to demonstrate to the fishing public that marine fisheries can be managed without unnecessarily closing waters to fishing. A documented process using peer-reviewed science and allowing for public participation and input on the implementation, use, and monitoring of proposed prohibition or limitation of public fishing areas to maintain the optimum balance between fishing opportunity and resource sustainability is necessary and warranted; and

(10) Any fishery management plan prepared, and any rule adopted to implement such plan, including the closing of marine areas to fishing shall conform to marine conservation and management standards that:

(A) Simultaneously provide fair-fishing community participation and appropriate use of marine resources;

(B) Are based upon the best scientific information available;

(C) Do not discriminate between fishing sectors or between other marine resource users, and if it becomes necessary to allocate or assign fishing privileges among fishermen or other marine users, such allocations shall be:

(i) Fair and equitable to all such fishermen and other marine users; and

(ii) Reasonably calculated to promote conservation;

(D) Take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities to:

(i) Provide for the sustained participation of such communities; and

(ii) To the extent practicable, minimize adverse economic and social impacts on such communities;

and

(E) Provide monitoring and enforcement of measures to allow for future evaluation of the plan.

The purpose of this Act is to require the department of land and natural resources to demonstrate a scientific need prior to establishing new prohibitions or limitations on fishing in public fishing areas.

SECTION 2. Chapter 190, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§190-   Demonstration of scientific need prior to fishing restrictions.  As of January 1, 2006, fishing shall not be prohibited or limited in any areas open to public fishing, unless:

(1) A peer-reviewed, scientific analysis clearly demonstrates a correlation between fishing and a specific conservation problem and that less severe conservation measures, such as minimum sizing, closed seasons, bag limits, and enforcement of existing regulations will not adequately provide for conservation and management of the affected stocks of targeted fish;

(2) The closed area regulation includes specific measurable criteria to determine the conservation benefit of the closed area on the affected stocks of fish, including:

(A) The identification of specific species to be protected (including current stock assessment of the species as they occur throughout their range);

(B) The historic and current fishing effort, including numbers of fishermen, hooks, and soak time on the targeted species;

(C) The historic and current extraction rate, including data on fish caught and released or damaged, of targeted species;

(D) Other environmental and non-fishing use factors that may be contributing to the current condition of the targeted species; and

(E) A scheduled review of the continued need for the closed area is at least once every three years, with a report to the legislature and public;

(3) The closed area is no larger than that which is supported by the best available peer reviewed scientific information; and

(4) A sunset provision is included to automatically end the closed area, unless closure continues to meet the conditions in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) that was the basis of the closure."

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 to carry out the purposes of this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2006; provided that section 2 take effect on January 1, 2006, and shall be applied retroactively from that date.

INTRODUCED BY:

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