HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

215

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the department of land and natural resources TO designate the AHUPUAA OF muolea AS A community based subsistence fishing area.

 

 

WHEREAS, the ahupuaa of Muolea is located in the district of Hana on the southeast coast of the island of Maui, between the town of Hana and Kipahulu; and

WHEREAS, the offshore waters of the ahupuaa of Muolea have always been an important subsistence fishery resource for native Hawaiians and local families inhabiting the ahupuaa; and

WHEREAS, the Hana Highway that traverses the ahupuaa brings many visitors through the ahupuaa on the way to the popular Seven Pools at Kipahulu; and

WHEREAS, this influx of visitors, both local and off-island, has resulted in a growing problem of the indiscriminate taking of aquatic resources resulting in a depletion of the fish and other aquatic stocks and the degradation of the coral reef habitats in the area; and

WHEREAS, the depletion of the fish and other aquatic stocks have had a major negative impact on the subsistence of the inhabitants of the ahupuaa; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to establish a community based subsistence fishing area, comprising of all state waters contiguous to the ahupuaa of Muolea; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources, in continuing consultation with as broad based a group of ahupuaa inhabitants as possible, is requested to consider the adoption of rules for the Muolea community based subsistence fishing area, to include but not be limited to:

(1) A determination of fishing practices that are customarily and traditionally exercised for purposes of native Hawaiian subsistence, culture, and religion in the fishing area;

(2) A management plan containing a description of specific activities and types of equipment that can be conducted, used, or prohibited in the fishing area, including evaluation and monitoring processes and methods of funding and enforcement;

(3) Limits on the harvest of aquatic life, as those terms are defined in section 187A-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, in the fishing area;

(4) The establishment of no harvesting or limited harvesting zones within the fishing area without depriving ahupuaa inhabitants of access to traditional sources of subsistence;

(5) A process for the expansion of the fishing area to include neighboring ahupuaa; and

(6) Any other regulations or restrictions that the inhabitants of the ahupuaa of Muolea may recommend; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to submit a report on its efforts to establish the Muolea community based subsistence fishing area not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the Mayor and Chairperson of the Council of the County of Maui.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Community Based Subsistence Fishing Area; Muolea Ahupuaa