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| Protecting the Federal Waters THE PAPAHANAUMOKUAKEA MARINE MONUMENT CALL TO ACTION! Comments Needed Now on the Draft Monument Management Plan Your Help Needed Now To Protect the Papahanaumokuakea Marine Monument Click here to submit your comments by July 8th. Protecting the State Waters  PARTICIPATION WORKS!KAHEA Recommended as Party to NWHI Enforcement Action Against HIMB Research Permit Violations It was official announced on February 22, 2008 that the state-appointed hearings officer for the Board of Land and Natural Resources has not only recommended that KAHEA be party to a landmark case, but also expanded the scope of the case, as KAHEA had requested. The case concerns the first-recorded research permit violations of the state's stringent Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Refuge. The hearing officer's findings cited landmark cases such as PASH vs. Hawaii County Planning Commission and Pele Defense Fund v. Paty, and pointed to KAHEA's consistent involvement and advocacy for NWHI protections over the last eight years. For eight years, armed with good facts and *your* testimony, KAHEA has been there at every meeting, at every hearing, advocating for the strongest possible protections for this uniquely Hawaiian place. Mahalo piha to everyone who has ever participated in a call to action to protect this unique and fragile place. Your participation made the difference! "KAHEA, as an organization whose established interest and purpose is to preserve, protect and perpetuate the unique and critical resources of the NWHI and the interests of Native Hawaiian practice and pursuit of cultural and religious beliefs and traditional practices, has standing to intervene in the matters at issue in this case." - Hearing Officer Lou Chang, 2/21/08  The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands was set aside as the world's largest no-take marine reserve--protecting forever its extremely fragile marine ecosystem and sacred cultural significance. Flying in the face of federal plans to open this delicate area up to tourism, recreational fishing and bioprospecting, the public pushed for the strongest possible protections. And won! (read more about the NWHI)"KAHEA participated substantially in advocating for government protection of the special and unique NWHI and participated in public efforts in support of the adoption of government regulations relating to the protection of the NWHI." Hearing Officer Lou Chang, 2/21/08 What is this contested case proceeding about? This contested case before the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) is about alleged violations of the rules put in place to protect the fragile natural and cultural resources of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. We want to see enforcement of these protections so that they are meaningful, and the NWHI are a true pu'uhonua for generations to come. (A few thoughts on the case from KAHEA's Executive Director) KAHEA's Position: Protections without Enforcement Don't Mean Squat! To implement these protections and be certain science is conducted responsibly, strict state and federal regulations require research permits to access and study the NWHI. This is the main way managers limit the footprint of research in the NWHI. State law prohibits dumping of any kind within Refuge waters and all state permits prohibit the transport of live organisms in an effort to prevent the spread of disease and invasive species. But, without enforcement, these protections are meaningless. These Violations Posed Serious Risks to the NWHI Federal and state officials testified that HIMB researchers - including a former state Department of Land and Natural Resources n (DLNR) employee - cultivated coral disease bacteria in the NWHI, transported bacteria within and outside of the NWHI, and attempted to bring bacteria cultures to the Main Hawaiian Islands. Officials also testified that HIMB disease researchers harvested, cultivated, and transported live coral within the NWHI, dumping wastewater from the coral tank overboard as they traveled between islands. These actions are serious violations of state and federal laws, as well as state permit conditions designed to protect the NWHI from the spread of disease and invasive species. In testimony to the BLNR, it was also reported that the laboratory onboard the HI'IALAKAI is considered by researchers to a "bacterial cesspool." These Violations are Not Being Vigorously Pursued or Enforced Until the recent decision, enforcement action brought by the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) had consisted only of one researcher being fined $1,000 for one violation - in spite of the fact that a whole suite of violations are currently under investigation. The minimal enforcement action fails to uphold the state's visionary protections for the NWHI, AND is being appealed by the HIMB researcher in this contested case. The public is left to ask: "Where is the accountability?" Unfortunately, even the state staff's recommendations to the BLNR have consistently side-stepped the strict one-strike rule in the Refuge regulations, which prevents past violators from receiving future permits, and fail to consider the DOCARE investigation that was completed in June but never reviewed by the BLNR. These Violations are not Being Taken Seriously by HIMB HIMB representatives have characterized these violations as minor, technical oversights. The researcher herself called the violations a "minor misunderstanding." The public is rightfully concerned that HIMB is not taking their kuleana seriously. Improperly conducted and inappropriate research activities pose very serious risks to the NWHI--including the spread of potentially invasive coral species and coral disease. We need continued vigilance to ensure that the best practices are followed, the rules are fully enforced, and access to this fragile public trust resource is granted through a publicly accountable process informed by a peer reviewed and publicly-vetted Science Plan. With Continued Public Participation and Pressure, It CAN be Made Better! People are the greatest threat - as well as the greatest hope - to the NWHI. We must ensure that human activity is not the source of future harm to this delicate, irreplaceable ecosystem. To do this, every person who visits the NWHI must recognize the profound significance of this place and freely embrace a culture of 100% compliance. Click here to participate - Sign the KAHEA Petition in Support of Responsible Science! Latest Developments The Violations Background Information For more than a year, managers on the federal level have granted permits to access the NWHI with little or no opportunity for public comment and oversight. Language in the permits specifically grant permittees blanket permission to engage in a wide range of damaging activities - such as killing Monument resources, dredging, dumping -- that are otherwise prohibited in the Monument. Requests to access the NWHI are driven by availability of research grant dollars and are not linked to any publicly-vetted system for deciding which research projects best meet the conservation needs of the resource. Unlike other research permits granted at the state and federal level, federal permits to research the NWHI do not undergo any independent, public review by experts. Despite a ban on commercial and recreational fishing, many applicants for NWHI research and management permits insist that they have the special right to fish inside the Monument, angering many local residents.  "These are public trust resources being managed with public dollars," said Holt-Takamine. "And the public demands more transparency and accountability in decision-making about how the NWHI are protected. The science conducted there should be publicly-vetted, properly prioritized, and culturally appropriate; management should include a citizen-based advisory council and a commitment to uphold the strongest protections across the Refuge and the Monument."KAHEA, together with the NWHI hui, are calling for better implementation of the protections in the NWHI. This includes compliance measures such as daily impact logs for everything researchers harvest from the NWHI and a compliance officer onboard every research vessel. They are also advocating that the Monument function under a Monument Advisory Council similar to the long-standing, citizen-based advisory board that has been overseeing NWHI protections since 2001. Fact Sheets
Five years of public support for the strongest possible protections in the NWHI. (180K PDF) last updated April 2006. Summer 2005 Update on Protecting the NWHI (400k PDF) Who’s the Hui? (212k PDF) Casadia Times, Spring 2005 Summer 2004 Update on Protecting the NWHI Resolutions to local and federal officials, urging them to fully protecting the NWHI from all commercial activity: |
KAHEA is an alliance of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) cultural practitioners, environmental activists and others concerned with protecting customary and traditional rights and our fragile environment.
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