Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 6, 1 Iune 1999 — Mālamai nāʻilio holo i ka uaua [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mālamai nāʻilio holo i ka uaua

By Paula Durbln FOR YEARS, Native Hawaiian fisherman Isaac Harp fought hard to win the right for more Hawaiians to fish in the federallv-controlled

waters of the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, known as the Mau Zone. But now that the federal government has hs-

tened, Harp is backing ofif because of his eoneem for Hawai'i's endangered monk seals. "We would like to exercise our inherent rights to gather the resources of the northwestem islands for food to help our people eeo-

nomically, said Harp, explaining his about face. "However, before we

ean exercise our inherent

rights, we must first exercise our inherent responsibihty." Recently, the federal government earmarked for Native Hawaiians two of ten newly-authorized, limited entry permits to fish in the Mau Zone, whieh are in addition to twelve permits currently issued in the area. But the zone is home to many Hawahan monk seals whose populahon, recent studies say, has dechned by 60 percent during the last sixty years. According to Harp, there is mounting scientific evidence that eommercial fishing has contributed to the animals' demise. A former chairman of the Native and Indigenous Rights Advisory Panel to the Westem Paeilīe Regional Fishery Management Council, Harp, along with other current Hawahan NIRAP members, is requesting that Hawahans wishing to apply for the two Mau Zone permits wait until it ean be determined that

increased fishing wih not contribute to the monk seals' extinction. Additionally, since 1994, the Marine Mammal Commission (MMC), another federal agency whieh advises the National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), has communicated its own opposition to Rolland Schmitten, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of the National Oeeanie and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The MMC has sent Schmitten at least eight requests to close commercial fisheries in the area in order to reduce the incidence of starvation among the monk seals. Although NOAA/NMFS has tried to rescue, relocate and rehabilitate malnourished young seals, many of whieh died or became blind in captivity, it has yet to act on MMC's requests. "We don't think there's mueh of a problem," said Eugene Nitta, NOAA's Pacific Islands Protected Species Program Manager. That assertion hasn't reassured Harp who is still urging Native Hawaiian fishennen to give up their hard-won, newly acquired entitlements rather than put the monk seals at any additional risk. "We don't want whoever gets permits to use them unless the monk seals are safe," Harp said. Editor's note: Hawaiians Charles Maxwell, William Aipa, Dawn Wasson, Tammy Harp, Bill Puleloa, Lunakānāwai Hauanio and Harp serve on NIRAP along with representatives ofother Western Pacific communities. ■

P RQTECTI N G THE MONK SEAL

miKoinm y--v-

A mother and lier new-horn rest on the shore.