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Hunting & Fishing

Eco-Students Ignite Action

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Eco-Students Ignite Action

Nothing breaks up a monotonous school year better than a field trip. In the name of science and sustainability, Aka`ula School makes it their business to provide students with three such trips. Their PRISM program provides “real life application” to environmental issues, inspiring kids to tackle a range of issues from illegal hunting to carrying on Hawaiian sailing traditions.

“Kids this age are always told they can’t – can’t drive, can’t vote,” said Dara Lukonen, coordinator for PRISM. “They have a strong sense of social justice that we need to capitalize [on].”



Another part of the symposium is a keynote speaker – a community member who has done their own work in an environmental field for Molokai. This year Penny Martin spoke about her experience sailing in the Hokule`a, a full-scale replica of a Polynesian voyaging canoe, in 1976. She said she discovered how much the ancient Polynesians and Hawaiians knew about nature – stars, tides, botany – and how it helped them sail from Oceanic islands to the Hawaiian islands over a thousand years ago.

“Everything you need is here,” she explained. “If you take care of the land, it takes care of you.”

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Molokai Fishers Register Laynets, Bottomfish Rules

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Department of Land and Natural Resources News Release

Lanai and Molokai fishers can register their laynets with staff of the Department of Land and Natural Resources Aquatic (DLNR) Resources Division, who will be on island this month for scheduled public hearings on proposed amendments to bottomfish rules.

The Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) staff will also be available to answer any questions or concerns about various marine resource management issues, such as regulated species rule changes, and will be able to issue commercial fishing licenses or information on DAR’s new onlline commercial fish catch reporting system using the Internet. 

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Seal Slaying

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Seal Slaying

A Molokai monk seal has once again captured the island’s attention – this time for his unfortunate death. A male monk seal that has been known to swim in Molokai waters for the past several years was found dead on Dec. 14, 2009.

NOAA officials say he was intentionally shot, after performing a necropsy, and have opened an ongoing investigation on why and how the animal met its fate. It is against the law to kill an endangered species, like the Hawaiian monk seal, and being found guilty can carry a fine up to $50,000.

are an important part of Hawaiian natural resources,” Schofield said. “They were here before we were.” He added that anyone with any information about this latest incident should call 1-800-853-1964.

 

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Too Few Tuna

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Too Few Tuna

NOAA News Release

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dropping its baseline catch limits for bigeye tuna by 400 metric tons. The new limit applies to the U.S. pelagic longline fisheries in the western and central Pacific Ocean that will stand through 2011. The limits are being placed because the species’ Pacific Ocean population is subject to overfishing.

The rule, published last week in the Federal Register, puts in place catch limits for longline fisheries, which target adult bigeye. Under this rule, the U.S. will reduce its longline catch of bigeye tuna from the 2004 baseline catch of 4,181 metric tons (mt) to 3,763 mt.

Once the 3,763 mt catch limit is reached in any of those years, retaining, shipping or landing bigeye tuna caught in the western and central Pacific Ocean will be prohibited for the remainder of the year, with limited exceptions. The catch limit will not apply to the longline fisheries of American Samoa, Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, the international body which manages highly migratory fish species like bigeye tuna, agreed to the catch limits in both their longline and purse seine fisheries at their meeting last December.

Earlier this year, NOAA published a rule limiting fishing days by purse seine vessels and restricting tuna purse seine sets on floating objects known as fish aggregation devices, in an effort to reduce the catch of juvenile bigeye tuna.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. Visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov

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The King of Roi

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

The King of Roi

Community Contributed

What started off as a senior project for Kumu Spencer-Misaki, soon became something much bigger and much more meaningful to him and to Molokai’s community. 

Kumu’s project was to address how to control the population of the peacock grouper fish, better known here in Hawai’i as roi.  It is an invasive species that was introduced to Hawaii in 1956 from French Polynesia as a food source.

However, it soon became apparent that the majority of the roi contained ciguatera a toxin that when consumed, can cause extreme sickness.  The roi also began eating a lot of Hawai’i’s reef fish.  A roi can consume 150 fish annually and its lifespan is approximately 13 years.  So in essence, one roi can consume 1950 fish in its lifetime.

Kumu took home two of the prizes for his own hard work. He won for the smallest fish (.17 lbs) and for the most caught by a team. He and his teammates Wilfred Spencer, John Borden, and Randy Cabreros brought in 64 fish, 31 of which were caught by Cabreros. Ehu Rawlins won the biggest catch of the day at 5.1 lbs.
All in all, the tournament brought in 392 roi in far from ideal conditions. Cameraman Cal Hirai said it was the most he had seen at any tournament this year.

After the prizes were awarded, Kumu presented Camie Kimball, Molokai High School Athletic Director, with a check for $1500.  Kumu also donated an additional $122 that he made by raffling a spear that was made by Eddie Castro.
Kumu decided to donate the money to the high school despite not playing any sports. He also has been working hard to raise funds for a school trip to Washington D.C. in March, but did not keep any of his hard-earned roi money for that trip. 

It was not just an individual who made all this happen, it was a community.  In these hard times, Molokai continues to do what we do best, support each other.  This was evident by the amount divers that came out in force that day, the businesses and individuals who so generously donated prizes, and the families that gave of their time and support.  Without all of them, this could not have been possible.

 

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