FL MORRIS / STAR-BULLETIN
Wayne Gemeno fishes for akule off the reef at Shark's Cove at
Pupukea Beach Park. Under state proposals, fishing would be
banned at Shark's Cove and at Three Tables. Fishing at
Waimea Bay would be limited to pole-and-line.

State trolls for
limit on Waimea
Bay fishing

Fishing and diving would be
limited along sensitive areas
of the North Shore

---

By Diana Leone
Star-Bulletin

The popular North Shore diving spots Shark's Cove and Three Tables could become off limits to fishing as the state moves to expand protection of marine life there.

Under proposals from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District would get bigger, and the rules governing it would get stricter.

A task force with representatives from diving, fishing, neighborhood, conservation and Hawaiian groups studied the issues for nine months and concluded that the area cannot be all things to all people.

Changing what is allowed at Shark's Cove, Three Tables and Waimea Bay will take time. Public hearings must be held before rules are adopted -- and that cannot happen before September, according to those familiar with the process. So, nothing is written in stone, yet.

Here is what is proposed:

>> Expand the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District 100 yards seaward, and add Waimea Bay (and its Wananapaoa islets) to it.

>> Ban all fishing in the Shark's Cove and Three Tables areas. Restrict fishing in Waimea Bay to only pole-and-line.

>> Ban spear guns and spears everywhere in the conservation district -- even if someone is "just passing through" to areas beyond.

>> Put a cap on how many commercial dive shops can have clients diving at Shark's Cove at any given time. A suggested reservation system would allow a maximum of six dive shops to have up to 10 divers each in the cove at any one time.

Whether these changes are terrific or questionable depends on one's point of view.

Recreational fisherman and North Shore resident Tommy Navarro has fished Shark's Cove and Three Tables all his life.

Navarro does not see that he and fellow recreational fishermen are the problem. "In a good week I catch maybe a dozen," he said. He thinks commercial fishermen who use nets to surround whole schools of fish are the culprits.

"If we don't fish, what recreation are we going to do, sit around the TV?" Navarro asked as he fished patiently from the rocks yesterday.

Deep Ecology North Shore dive shop owner Ken Nichols said he will gladly take fewer clients there if it will help the sea life.

Nichols' judgment of the conservation district as it stands now is harsh. "On paper it supposedly protects marine resources, but in reality it's no different from any other stretch of coastline. It's a shining example of how our government isn't protecting wildlife."

FL MORRIS / STAR-BULLETIN
Dive instructor Kentaro Abiko, right, leaves the water with a group
at Shark's Cove, Pupukea Beach Park. In the water behind him
are, from left, Akiko Kuboi, Michiko Takahashi and Miki
Nakagawa. Abiko is a guide and instructor for
Green Dolphin Dive Shop.

Marlu West served on the North Shore Neighborhood Task Force that weighed what is best for Pupukea and is pleased with its recommendations.

"It's good that there is expansion, good that we're making it into a real marine sanctuary, and good that we've gone through a public process and we've listened and compromised," said West, who described herself as a diver, fisher and grandmother. "I think everybody was very fairly represented."

But David Hara, representing recreational fishermen on the task force, is less than pleased.

He brought to the table a petition with 800 signatures of people supporting continued recreational fishing -- and feels like he walked away empty-handed.

"Local people didn't agree with the rule changes, and only the local people fish from the shoreline," Hara said.

"I think the task force was biased. I was willing to even compromise -- one year fish, one year no fish, or try all kinds of variables, like a catch limit, or no commercial sales or grandfather local fishermen in," Hara said. He was in the minority.

DLNR aquatic biologist Alton Miyasaka explained it this way: "The more protected an area is, the more resources are allowed to replenish themselves. If you have any level of take, that slows that process of recovery down."

Conflicting uses are the root of the Pupukea problem, said Carolyn She, a DLNR boating regulation planner who has been meeting with dive shop representatives to iron out proposed regulations.

Some residents think of the dive operators as outsiders who make a good living off of a public resource.

She recalled being at Shark's Cove one time when a dive operator walked up to a neighborhood resident who was sitting at a picnic table with his dog.

"Do you mind if we share this picnic table?" the dive operator asked the man, preparing to heft scuba gear onto it. "Yes," said the man. "Yes, I do."