Senators tackle fishing issue on Ni'ihau

The Honolulu Advertiser
Tuesday, October 28, 2003

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

Two state senators visited Ni'ihau yesterday to discuss subsistence fishing regulations, but ended up engaging one of the island's owners in a broad review of military activities and the endangered Hawaiian monk seals that use the island's coastline.

The visit by Sen. J. Kalani English, D-6th (E. Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i), and Sen. Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau), was arranged by Ni'ihau native Ilei Beniamina, a Kaua'i Community College professor.

Kaua'i boaters have expressed concerns about suggested subsistence fishery regulations because they fear it could restrict legitimate fishing activities that do not compete with Ni'ihau residents' needs, and because it could deny boaters safe harbor in stormy weather.

The senators, accompanied by staff members, Beniamina and Ni'ihau co-owner Keith Robinson, toured the island by helicopter and stopped at two locations, one near the island's southern point and another at Nonopapa, a former sheep-shearing site where livestock and supplies are sometimes loaded on boats.

Robinson said the senators seemed interested in the idea that limiting outside fishing could protect monk seals that use the island's beaches and improve the security of military operations. Ni'ihau is used to train military pilots in avoiding capture if forced to land in enemy territory. It also is the site of Navy monitoring stations and has been identified as a possible alternative landing site for aircraft flying out of the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua'i.

Kaua'i angler Darrel Horner, who has fished commercially for 25 years, said there are other concerns. He said the coastline northwest from Ni'ihau's southern point is an important leeward anchorage for boaters.

Sen. J. Kalani English, top, and Sen. Gary Hooser visited Ni'ihau yesterday.

"When the winds really come up, it's the only safe harbor in the area," Horner said. "Fishermen from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and even the Coast Guard use it. It's real safe and even if your anchor drags, the wind blows you away from shore, not onto the rocks."

English said the demand on coastal fishery resources comes from three things: Ni'ihau residents, off-island fishers and Hawaiian monk seals, which feed on lobster and other nearshore species.

Earlier this year, residents met with Gov. Linda Lingle and asked that the state enact regulations to protect the Ni'ihau fishery from outside fishing pressure.

The administration proposed one set of regulations, but withdrew it for further study. The senators said they were interested in the possibility of establishing the kind of subsistence fishing area that has been established in the Mo'omomi area of Moloka'i.

"The formation of a subsistence zone, similar to the one on Moloka'i, is an important issue to the people of Ni'ihau," Hooser said.

English, who met with some Ni'ihau residents on Kaua'i Sunday night, noted that a pure subsistence fishery could damage Ni'ihau families who collect shells to string lei for sale — a commercial use. English said the language of a regulatory scheme will need to be innovative to protect the various interests.

Horner said he agrees with fishery regulations that would prevent outsiders from picking 'opihi and fishing in the shallow waters near Ni'ihau's village of Pu'uwai.

"Some of the guys go right to shore, right by the village," he said. "That's not right."

But he said Ni'ihau residents don't use deeper waters, and other anglers should be allowed to continue fishing in those areas.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.

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