HAWAI‘I OCEAN PROTECTION RECEIVES BOOST ON WORLD OCEANS DAY….GOVERNOR IGE ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR EXPANSION OF PACIFIC REMOTE ISLANDS MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT
HAWAI‘I OCEAN PROTECTION RECEIVES BOOST ON WORLD OCEANS DAY
(Kewalo Basin, O‘ahu) – On this 30th anniversary of the international World Oceans Day, Governor David Ige signed four measures into law related to protection of aquatic resources.
In remarks at the Kupu Hoʻokupu Center at Kewalo Basin, the governor said the new laws reflect the legislature’s earnest and continuing efforts to provide further ocean protections across the state.
The bills include:
- authorization of a pilot carrying capacity study for the Pūpūkea Marine Life Conservation District on O‘ahu’s North Shore;
- establishment of tiered administrative fines to strengthen penalties for aquatic resource violations;
- funding for fish aggregation devices; and
- authorization for the use of in-lieu fee mitigation to restore damaged aquatic habitats or resources.
“The Holomua Marine 30 X 30 Initiative, which we launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2016, calls for the effective management of Hawaii’s nearshore waters with 30% established as marine management areas by the year 2030. These four new laws, collectively, along with previous measures, certainly bring us much closer to realizing that goal over the next eight years,” Governor Ige said.
DLNR Chair Suzanne Case applauded the Ige Administration and State lawmakers for proactively addressing the threats facing the ocean during this time of global climate change.
“We all know how critical our nearshore ocean waters are to life in Hawai‘i. While there’s still much work to accomplish, and there is certainly urgency due to global warming, these laws will help Hawai‘i get closer to its overall goal of effectively managing as much of our ocean waters and its resources as possible in the face of unprecedented natural and human-generated threats,” Case said.
Key purposes of each bill signed today:
- HB 1653 (Act 035) – Strengthens aquatic resource penalties to increase compliance, to ensure just, reasonable, and effective punishment for violations. Establishes a flexible, tiered administrative fine system.
- SB 2767 (Act 034) – Provides funds to DLNR to support the deployment, replacement, and maintenance of fish aggregation devices (FADs). FADS are an important resource for fishers to target productive and sustainable fisheries like mahi mahi and ono. Missing FADs can result in less fish for consumption and increased operational costs for fishers. On average, about 15 FADs go missing each year.
- SB 3330 (Act 031) – Establishes a three-year pilot program to assess the carrying capacity of certain areas within the Pūpūkea Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD), in light of threats to marine life from people. Directs monitoring, documentation, and assessment of effectiveness of mandatory and voluntary closures of high traffic areas in the MLCD.
- SB 204 (Act 032) – Gives DLNR the legal authority to use in-lieu fee mitigation to restore, create, enhance, and preserve aquatic habitats or resources as compensatory mitigation to offset unavoidable adverse impacts from incidents like ship groundings.
Utilizing Kupu’s Kewalo Basin facility as the backdrop for today’s bill signing, Gov. Ige also signed into law SB2768 (Act 033), which directs DLNR to administer or enter into an agreement for the administration of a green jobs youth corps to provide temporary work and training opportunities in the fields of natural resource management, agriculture, or other sustainability‑related professions to young adults ages twenty-six and younger.
Kupu provides many of the interns who work in various DLNR divisions, including the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR). DAR Administrator Brian Neilson noted that Kupu workers have been engaged in the division’s alien invasive species, urchin hatchery, and coral nursery teams and several have advanced into civil service positions following their internship.
“This is a great day for the furtherance of ocean protections here in Hawai‘i,” commented DAR Administrator Brian Neilson. “To now have the opportunity to expose more young people to the vital nature of protecting our lands and waters, is a real win on this World Oceans Day, and further cements Hawai‘i’s reputation as a leader in conservation, mauka to makai.”
ON WORLD OCEANS DAY GOVERNOR IGE ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR EXPANSION OF PACIFIC REMOTE ISLANDS MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT
(HONOLULU) – The proposed expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument would make it the largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the world.
Today, in conjunction with the signing of four bills to provide better protection of ocean waters around Hawai‘i, Gov. David Ige expressed his full support for the proposal.
“Here in the Pacific, the ocean connects us. The Pacific Remote Islands are among the last wild and healthy marine ecosystems in the world, largely because of the lack of human activity. I’m in agreement that the expansion of this marine national monument is politically feasible, culturally supported, and builds on the work already done to keep this part of the Pacific Ocean healthy and abundant,” Gov. Ige said.
The monument was established in 2009 by President George W. Bush and was subsequently expanded by President Barack Obama in 2014. On June 1, the Pacific Remote Islands Coalition petitioned President Biden to further expand the monument. According to the coalition, full protection is needed in the waters surrounding Howard and Baker Islands, and Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll.
The marine monument currently incorporates 789,141 square miles and the proposed expansion would add another 425,639 square miles to the monument.
Extensive research at Palmyra Atoll and other Pacific islands over the past twenty years has confirmed the strong ecological link between pelagic fish, foraging birds, and coral reef communities. The areas’ underwater seamounts create productive, nutrient rich hotspots. Foraging seabirds bring these nutrients back to their island nesting grounds that feed the surrounding coral reef communities. Protecting these ocean waters is critical to this cycle.
Supporters say the expansion would honor the memory and sacrifice of members of Hui Panala‘au, 130 mostly Native Hawaiian men who were sent to Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands from 1935-1942 which enabled the U.S. to claim jurisdiction over the area.
They also note, Papahānaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which the State of Hawai‘i co-manages with federal partners and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, is the only intact cultural voyaging seascape within the Hawaiian Islands. “Expanding protection could likewise preserve the Pacific Remote Islands as a premier classroom for ancestral voyaging, preserving and promoting the culture and history of Pacific seafaring peoples,” according to the coalition.
Additional benefits of an expanded Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument include:
- The monument is a complex, interconnected ecosystem and expansion is needed to ensure the continued health of land and nearshore areas into deeper waters for abundant populations of marine wildlife.
- Protection would pre-emptively protect tuna and other pelagic predatory fish in the face of climate change, and by extension other species that rely on their role in the food web for continued stability.
- Expansion affords protections to important historical objects in our shared past, from ancient Polynesian exploration to World War II.
Proponents say the expansion would not significantly affect fishing operations in the area, “and would actually protect the area from potential deep-sea mining that would cause an acute disruption to the ecosystem and therefore catch in surrounding waters.”
In a news release from the coalition, Native Hawaiian Elder Sol Kaho‘ohalahala said, “The Pacific Remote Islands hold precious connections to our past and promise for our future as Pacific peoples. In the same way these waters are at the nexus of cross-cultural voyaging pathways across Polynesia, they likewise are an intersection of climate change mitigation, cultural practice and scientific discovery. We must protect these waters.”
In Governor Ige’s letter of support to President Biden, he wrote, “I understand that large-scale marine protected areas are critical to maintaining climate change resilience, protecting biodiversity, and enhancing fisheries…I believe the proposal to expand boundaries…balances the social and economic needs of today with the future health of our ocean.”
The request for expanded protections is already supported by Hawai‘i U.S. Representative Ed Case and seven local organizations, including the Bishop Museum, the Papahānaumokuakea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group, and Papa Ola Lokahi.
