Miloli‘i Community-based Subsistence Fishing Area Moves Forward

The State Board of Land and Natural Resources approved a request Friday, Feb. 25, from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources to hold a public hearing to incorporate fishery rules for the Miloliʻi Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA).

The State Legislature officially designated the Miloliʻi CBSFA in 2005 and directed the DLNR to adopt management strategies and other rules that ensure long-term sustainable populations of fish and other marine species as well as encourage the scientific study and understanding of subsistence fishing management.

The BLNR heard from dozens of Miloli‘i residents in support of the rules package and having a public hearing. A few people did object to it. Board Chair Suzanne Case said she was delighted with this next step in the process of developing a CBSFA for Miloli‘i, which has been in development for a very long time and was the result of significant input from the community.

DAR staff has been working with the Miloliʻi-based community group, Kalanihale, to develop a proposed set of rules to meet these goals.

Kalanihale has done considerable outreach work to gather support for these rules from members of the Miloliʻi community and other stakeholders in the South Kona area. DAR and Kalanihale have conducted multiple scoping events for the proposed rules to gather feedback and make adjustments. The rules proposed for the Miloliʻi CBSFA include:

• Size and/or bag limits for pāku‘iku‘I, kole, uhu, opihi, and ula
• Seasonal restrictions for kole, ‘ōpelu, ‘ū‘ū, and uhu
• No take of terminal males (blue) of the larger uhu species
• No take of female ‘a‘ama with eggs
• No take of ‘opihi kō‘ele
• No commercial aquarium fishing
• Specific gear and species restrictions within several sub-areas within the broader CBSFA boundary

No date for an informational meeting has been set yet.