Groups Join In Support of Better Enforcement of Natural Resource Regulations

HONOLULU, HAWAI'I — January 31, 2007— Fishers, scientists, and leading conservation groups are asking the 2007 Legislature to support a funding request that would dramatically increase the enforcement capacity of the State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).

Representatives from The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, Environmental Defense, Hawaiian Audubon Society, Pacific Fisheries Coalition, and Mâlama Hawai‘i joined fishers and scientists in urging the Legislature to approve a proposed $5 million budget increase for DLNR’s beleaguered enforcement arm – the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, or DOCARE.

The additional funding would allow the division to hire, train and equip 40 new enforcement officers and 10 support staff over the next two years – an increase of 40 percent.

“Our oceans and forests are just as much victims of crime as our streets and neighborhoods, but without enforcement, our resource protection laws are meaningless,” said Suzanne Case, Hawai‘i executive director for The Nature Conservancy. “Recognizing the need for more enforcement, the Legislature provided new enforcement positions last year. I commend Governor Lingle and Peter Young for continuing that commitment and making enforcement a top funding priority over the next two years.”

The proposed increase comes after a 2006 State Auditor’s report concluded that the state’s environmental enforcement officers are spread too thin, inadequately trained, and lack the equipment they need to do their jobs. The report noted: “The division generally does not have the capacity to do the job…the absence of enforcement coverage contributes, in part, to the overuse and abuse of Hawaii’s resources…. Public perception is that the state is unable to respond effectively to or enforce laws relating to the conservation of natural resources.”

Under chairman Peter Young, the State Department of Land and Natural Resources is responsible for policing nearly 1.3 million acres of state lands, beaches, and coastal waters. That includes 750 miles of coastline, 410,000 acres of coral reefs around the main Hawaiian Islands, and 3 million acres of state marine waters. Enforcement officers are expected to police all state lands from the top of the mountains down to the coastline, and all state waters out to the 3-mile limit. In response to public support, the department recently created a highly protected marine refuge for the 1,000-mile chain of Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and also co-manages the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary covering 900,000 acres.

According to the auditor’s report, as of October 2005, DOCARE had only 103 personnel to police these vast areas, of which 79 were branch level field supervisors or enforcement officers on regularly scheduled patrols. The report further noted that the division’s Maui branch had just 16 personnel and, at most, four or five officers on duty at any one time patrolling the islands of Maui, Lâna‘i, and Moloka‘i and all the waterways in between. The branch also has responsibility for patrolling waters around the island of Kaho‘olawe.

Community Support For Enforcement Funding

“As a marine scientist and recreational fisher, I have been particularly concerned about the decline in our fish populations,” said Dr. Randall Kosaki. “I urge the legislature to pass the increased budget for enforcement, and I hope that our community will recognize that fishing is a privilege that comes with the responsibility to care for our reefs.”

The state’s fishers have long called for more enforcement of regulations for the state’s nearshore waters. In a recent poll, 72 percent of recreational fishers strongly supported a recent DLNR proposal to restrict and in some areas ban the use of lay gill nets. The new restrictions have been approved by the State Board of Land and Natural Resources and now await the governor’s signature. But fishers worry that without additional enforcement there will be no way to ensure compliance.

“It would be senseless to implement the lay gill net ban without making it enforceable. This ban must be taken seriously in order to be an effective management tool,” said Brian Yoshikawa, avid Maui fisher.

Aaron Mahi, former Royal Hawaiian Bandmaster and recreational fisher, agrees: “Enforcement should be a top priority. We need to give the Department of Land and Natural Resources the funding they need to do their job. It is their mandate to ensure our land’s and ocean’s health.”

Louie DeNolfo, a recreational fisher and secretary of the Hawai‘i chapter of Trout Unlimited, added, “The hiring of 40 more enforcement officers is essential to maintaining our ocean resources. We cannot allow our natural environment to deteriorate further from overfishing, netting, and other abuses that have occurred. I lived and fished in New Zealand for almost two decades, and when people break the law there, they often have their boats confiscated and are levied huge fines.”

Need To Go Further

“Increased enforcement funding is critical,” said Ellyn Tong, outreach coordinator of the Pacific Fisheries Coalition, “but DOCARE officers are missing an essential tool, and that is the ability to inspect fishermen’s coolers. DOCARE officers cannot be on site the moment every fish is hauled out of the water, before it is thrown into a cooler. More officers and more funding is fantastic, and at the same time DOCARE officers need the ability to inspect coolers to do their important jobs.”

Fisher Darrell Tanaka of Maui says that other simple measures, such as blue lights for officers’ vehicles, would greatly improve the effectiveness and safety of DOCARE officers. “It’s about time that our state is giving attention to enforcement of our natural resources,” he said. “The additional enforcement personnel are badly needed. But without the right tools, DOCARE’s future remains difficult.”

Under chairman Peter Young, and with the support of the Legislature and the Governor, DLNR’s budget has increased from $60 million in 2002 to $94 million for 2007. The current biennium budget request would boost DLNR’s budget to $103 million by 2009, an overall increase of 72 percent.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.