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Gathering Place
Connie Florez |
Proposed fishing fees
would sully a priceless
cultural experienceWhat is more beautiful than watching a father and/or mother teaching their children how to fish? It incorporates cultural values of ohana and taking care of the aina, creating shared moments that we all can remember for a lifetime.
The value in that experience is priceless and never should have a dollar value on it or be subject to the National Marine Fisheries Service accounting purposes.
But that is what the federal government is proposing. The NMFS wants to require anglers in Hawaii and every coastal state to purchase a saltwater fishing license and answer questions about where they fish, when they fish and how much they catch.
They say the purpose is for better management of fishing grounds and creation of a nationwide database of fisheries information, monitoring endanger species and coral reefs.
But the fisherman who throws net or dives to practice his ancestral values, or, if jobless or homeless, to provide food for the family, has the dignity of being self-supporting through his very own contributions by providing for his ohana.
By charging a fee, we are taking the last thread of dignity that a man or woman can have to provide for his or her ohana.
All people of Hawaiian ancestry and their extended families should be pounding down the doors of our state government and saying "no" to charging these permit fees.
Our cultural values and traditions are for all the people of Hawaii and, most of all, for the inherent ancestral values of the Hawaiian people. Remembering a sense of place is not just a statement; it is about savoring and preserving the essence of our being part of the aina, taking care of what we have today for our future generations.
Shame on the commercial fisherman who said on the television news last Wednesday night: "Why shouldn't recreational fishing be charged for permits? We have to pay, why shouldn't they?"
This fisherman apparently is comparing his business to the moms and pops out there fishing and wants to take his frustrations out on others. He has absolutely no aloha for the people of Hawaii.
Chuck Johnston said in the Star-Bulletin, "People aren't going to become accountants for the government." This is a very real future for all of us ... if we allow it to happen.
I am a concerned citizen of our beautiful Aloha State. My grandfather, who was born on the Big Island in 1899, believed in taking care of the land and treating all people with love and kindness. I am also a Native American Indian woman who believes that our spiritual, ancestral values must be preserved for all the people of Mother Earth and not just for making a buck.
What makes Hawaii the Aloha State is being true to our hearts through the love, respect and honor we give to our land and ocean -- without putting a price tag on it for licensing or permits.
I ask that you, the people of Hawaii, guardians of aloha, stand up for your rights and say no to charging these recreational fishing fees.
Connie M. Florez, a documentary filmmaker, recently completed a film about a Hawaiian net fisherman and his attempt to teach a homeless man to fish.