Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Network
MEDIA UPDATE
CONSERVATION GROUP REQUESTS END TO NWHI SPORT FISHING BY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
Key Improvement In NWHI Management AskedHONOLULU: December 8, 2006
Officials of the Bush Administration are in Hawai'i to talk to the State of Hawai'i on management of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument (NWHI), "the largest single area dedicated to conservation in U.S. history and the largest protected marine area in the world." U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez today are signing a joint MOA with Governor Linda Lingle on future management of this reserve.
Keiko Bonk, Executive Director of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Network said, "We want to commend the Lingle and Bush Administrations for their bold actions and vision in protecting the NWHI. However, we remain concerned that the Commerce Department has failed to close a loophole that opens up an entirely new category of fishing called sustenance fishing.
"Sustenance fishing and subsistence fishing might sound very similar but they are not. 'Subsistence fishing' protects the rights of Native Hawaiians to fish when they are visiting these islands for cultural and religious purposes. Only small numbers of Hawaiians participate in such visits just as they have done for centuries. Under the monument proclamation, these activities can continue as before. 'Sustenance fishing' on the other hand, allows anyone else visiting the Monument permission to recreationally fish for food. The primary beneficiaries of this provision are scientists and employees of federal and state agencies traveling to the NWHI as part of their job," Bonk continued.
The NWHI Proclamation signed by President Bush prohibits recreational fishing and phased out commercial fishing but unfortunately left open the possibility of sustenance fishing. It's that loophole that conservationists are calling on federal officials to close by regulation. "As long as we have federal bureaucrats using the area as a private sport fishing reserve, the NWHI are not fully protected," stated Bonk. "We call on these cabinet officials, particularly Secretary Gutierrez to support an end the practice of sustenance fishing in the NWHI."
For more information please contact Keiko Bonk at Hawaii Audubon Society, nwhibonk@earthlink.net.