HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

861

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017

H.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO COMMUNITY-BASED SUBSISTENCE FISHING AREAS.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that it has been more than two decades since the department of land and natural resources was given the statutory authority under Act 271, Session Laws of Hawaii 1994, to establish community-based subsistence fishing areas by rule.  Since that time, the department has adopted rules for only one such area, Haena community-based subsistence fishing area, and only after being specifically required to do so pursuant to Act 241, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006.  The department did not adopt rules for the Haena community-based subsistence fishing area until ten years after its establishment by the legislature.

     The legislature finds that the statutory process for designation of and rulemaking for community-based subsistence fishing areas provides a unique opportunity for local communities to participate in the management of natural resources for the benefit of the local community, the State, and the environment as a whole.  This process, created under Act 271 and codified as section 188-22.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relies on collaboration between the department and grassroots community organizations to designate and develop resource management policies for special fisheries management areas.  Both the process for area designation and the rules for resource management are designed to reaffirm and protect fishing practices customarily and traditionally exercised for purposes of native Hawaiian subsistence and culture.

     The legislature further finds that near-shore-based fishing practices need to be supported to ensure that the State maintains a sustainable ecosystem that provides food and resources to the State.

     The purpose of this Act is to establish a goal for the department of land and natural resources to designate and adopt rules for the management of no fewer than five additional community-based subsistence fishery areas by December 31, 2025.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 188, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§188-    Designation of new community-based subsistence fishing areas; time limits.  (a)  No later than December 31, 2025, the department shall designate no fewer than five community-based subsistence fishing areas throughout the State pursuant to section 188-22.6 and adopt applicable rules pursuant to chapter 91.

     (b)  As soon as practical, but no later than December 31, 2018, the department shall publish a request or series of requests for proposals for designation and management of community-based subsistence fishing areas.  The department shall accept for consideration all proposals that meet the minimum criteria established in section 188-22.6.

     (c)  As soon as practical, but no later than December 31, 2019, the department shall institute a process of consultation with the groups or organizations that submitted proposals considered under subsection (b), in addition to a broad base of residents, community groups, native Hawaiian cultural practitioners, inhabitants of the ahupuaa potentially affected by designations proposed under subsection (b), and other interested parties to designate no fewer than five community-based subsistence fishing areas and to adopt rules for each designated area.  For each area proposed for designation, the department shall determine the fishing and harvesting or gathering practices that are customarily and traditionally exercised for purposes of native Hawaiian subsistence and culture in the proposed fishing areas.

     (d)  As soon as practical, but no later than December 31, 2025, the department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to designate no fewer than five community-based subsistence fishing areas and provide for the management of each designated area.  Rules for each designated area shall include but not be limited to:

     (1)  A management plan recognizing existing marine activities permitted by the department and containing a description of specific activities to be conducted in the area, including evaluation and monitoring processes and methods of funding and enforcement;

     (2)  Limits on the taking of aquatic life, as defined in section 187A-1;

     (3)  The establishment of no harvesting, no fishing, or other limited use zones within the area, if appropriate; provided that limited use zones shall not deprive ahupuaa inhabitants of access to traditional sources of subsistence; and

     (4)  A process for the expansion of the fishing area to include other ahupuaa, if appropriate.

     (e)  The department shall submit an annual report to the legislature of the department's progress in complying with this section as well as any recommendations and proposed legislation no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session, beginning with the regular session of 2018.

     (f)  For the purposes of this section.

     "Department" means the department of land and natural resources."

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2030.


 


 

Report Title:

Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Areas; DLNR

 

Description:

Establishes a goal for the Department of Land and Natural Resources to designate and adopt rules for the management of no fewer than five community-based subsistence fishing areas by December 31, 2025.  Establishes designation process and rule requirements.  (HB861 HD2)

 

 

 

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