A few simple rules can save Hawaii's ocean resources

While at the beach the other day, I witnessed once again an all too common scene in Hawaii; a recreational fisherman spearing baby fish with his newly purchased three-prong spear. It made me think of my father, who taught me as a child the basic rules of Hawaiian ocean resource management. These were the same customs he was taught by his father and grandmother. He would say things like, "Only catch what you can eat. Whatever you catch, you better eat. Don't catch the small ones." These are a just a few of the simple teachings, but it is these simple things that have sustained the valuable ocean resources of Hawaii for generations.

Yet today many of Hawaii's ocean resources are dwindling. Our oceans are polluted and overfished. While much of the problem lies with nonpoint source pollution and commercial fishing, many of today's recreational fishermen have contributed significantly to the degradation of our shores. Unfortunately, many have not been taught the simple ocean resource management rules that have been taught here in Hawaii for so long. No one has taught them to respect the ocean and its resources. No one has taught them to take only what they need. No one has taught them that if you take all the small ones today, there won't be any big ones to take tomorrow.

Hawaii needs to require that fishers obtain a license to purchase spears, spear guns, throw nets, lay nets and fishing poles. In order to get the license, one would need to take a Hawaiian ocean resource management class and/or pass a test. Since many of today's recreational fishermen have not grown up with the teachings that have sustained Hawaii's ocean resource base for generations, many of our beaches no longer have fish. When I visit some of the beaches today that I used to visit as a child with my father, things are simply not the same. The many schools of wonderful fish are no longer there. Litter often covers the sand and the surrounding shrubs. People show no respect.

Requiring permits for the purchase of fishing equipment would ensure that all who take up a spear have received the necessary education to use it wisely. It would help to ensure that what few resources remain today will still be here for our children and our children's children. It would ensure that respect of the ocean and its resources is taught to all who purchase the tools that can destroy those resources. The Hawaiian ocean resource management class could also be required for those seeking camping permits at Hawaii's beaches. It could also be taught to the children in Hawaii's schools.

There is an old Hawaiian proverb that states, "Ua lehulehu a manomano ka 'ikena a ka Hawaii." It translates, "Great and numerous is the knowledge of the Hawaiians." It is this knowledge that is badly needed today by all who seek to harvest from our precious ocean's resources. Without it, what little we have may soon be gone.