Hawai'i Fisheries Initiative - The Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs

Wespac reports increased community
involvement via its development of
Fisheries Ecosystems Plans, as mandated
by the MSA. 527 Efforts include workshops,
conferences, the Puwalu series (discussed
below), and specific outreach through
the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs
(AOHCC). 528 Wespac’s Regional Ecosystem
Advisory Committee provides a forum for
community and cultural consultation in
fisheries management processes, including
Wespac’s new Hawai‘i Archipelago Fishery
Ecosystem Plan, which will be the larger
framework under which more specific
ecosystem-based management strategies
will be developed. 529
AOHCC and OHA have held dozens of
community meetings statewide to hone
efforts in implementing traditional and
cultural practices into government policy. 530
Several ocean-management and legal issues
have recently held the AOHCC Ocean
Resources Committee’s focus:
u The 2006 presidential proclamation of
the Papaha – naumokua – kea Marine National
Monument caused significant concern, with
the committee reporting that the action was
taken without the state or federal governments
asking for Hawaiian input. In addition,
the committee posed this question: “The
Northwest Hawaiian Islands Monument
represents the biggest taking of ceded
lands in history. The state gave this to the
U.S. How is the state going to compensate
the Hawaiian people for this taking?”
u The committee noted that OHA, which
is charged with protecting ceded and
submerged lands for Native Hawaiians,
had remained silent on this matter. AOHCC
seeks to be a part of the management and
regulatory planning with respect to the
monument.
u Some Hawaiian Civic Clubs opposed
DLNR’s recent measures to close additional
marine areas to fishing activity; these clubs
instead advocate seasonal closures based
on spawning cycles. The committee also
opposed the state’s 2006 lay gillnet ban. 531
In 2006, Wespac and the AOHCC
co-sponsored the Puwalu Series to increase
participation of the Hawaiian community in
conservation and management of Hawai‘i’s
land and ocean resources, including
Wespac’s Hawai‘i Archipelago Fisheries
Ecosystem Plan. Three Puwalu brought
together Native Hawaiian cultural and
traditional practitioners versed in lawai‘a
and mahiai, or ocean and land ahupua‘a
management methods. Resolutions of the
Puwalu call for reinstatement and continuation
of the konohiki management/kapu
system, the creation of ‘Aha Moku councils
to provide guidance and input to state and
county agencies, and the ahupua‘a system
of place-based ecosystem management. 532
The establishment of Aha Moku advisory
councils also was a priority identified in
the ORMP. 533 The governor signed SB
1853 into law (Act 212) on June 27, 2007.
The act establishes an ‘aha kiole advisory
committee to provide a framework on
the formation of an ‘Aha Moku council
commission that shall serve in an advisory
capacity on matters regarding natural
resources management.
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