Fishing abuses
reported in Haleiwa'Long-netters' who fail to check their
By Debra Barayuga
nets often or remove them carefully
can wipe out an area
Star-BulletinA small group of commercial gillnet fishermen who ran afoul of state laws and Hawaiian fishing traditions in Waianae waters earlier this year appear to have moved north to Haleiwa.
Haleiwa Harbor Master Paul Sensano said he began receiving calls from fishermen, city lifeguards and North Shore residents about "long-netters" three weeks ago. He notified the state Conservation and Resources Enforcement Division responsible for investigating violations.
Unlike long-line fishermen who lay lines with hooks out in the deep sea, long-netters use hydraulic spools to lay stationary nets sometimes 1 to 2 miles long in depths of 30 to 200 feet.
Laying nets is not illegal, and the nets have a legal eye size of 23/4 inches, Sensano said. At issue is the length of time that elapses before the fishermen check their nets to release any fish or species out of season or illegal in size, or any coral.
Failure to check nets in a timely manner violates state laws that prohibit the taking of certain species out of season and the destruction of coral reefs, said Alton Miyasaka, a biologist with the Department of Land and Natural Resource's Aquatic Division. "It's a small fishery at the moment, but a big problem."
Fishermen are required to check their nets every two hours. If fish remain in the nets longer than two hours, they begin to decay and aren't fit for human consumption. They also attract sharks and other predators.
After four hours, the nets have to be moved to a new location. The time requirement is designed to limit overfishing in any one particular area. Long nets could wipe out an area pretty quickly, Miyasaka said.
Because the nets are so long and lie in water too deep for scuba divers, the fishermen can't send divers to the bottom to retrieve portions of nets that get tangled on coral reef.
When the nets are brought up, they break off coral heads, basically killing the coral, which is protected by law. Some nets are left behind and continue to endanger marine life.
Waianae fisherman William Aila is afraid there won't be any fish left for his grandchildren.
He said he once watched a fisherman pull up a net in 30 feet of water, and every 50 yards the fisherman would remove a head of coral about 1 to 1-1/2 feet in diameter.
"You don't go out and destroy as much coral as they're destroying to catch fish -- it's just not proper."
Aila is worried that the fishermen will eventually return to the South Shore in the next three to six months, once the North Shore winter swells prove to be too dangerous. When they do, "Waianae will be watching out for Waianae," Aila said.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources Aquatics Division is pushing for higher penalties than those now in place, Miyasaka said.
Violations are petty misdemeanors punishable by a minimum fine of $25 to a maximum of $500, and a possible 30 days in jail, he said.
