To: Chairman & Members of the Board of Land and Natural Resources
Approve the Kaʻūpūlehu community’s proposal for a 10-year rest period to return productive and su...
The Kaʻūpūlehu Marine Life Advisory Committee (KMLAC), guided by the kamaʻaina families of Kaʻūpūlehu and other kūpuna, have worked together for the last 16 years to mālama their home. After five years, more than 350 meetings and outreach exchanges, and a dozen significant compromises, the community submitted their proposal to the State of Hawaiʻi to rest a 3.6-mile stretch of coastline – less than 1% of the island’s coast – for ten years.
The Kaʻūpūlehu proposal reflects the knowledge and personal observations of kūpuna and kamaʻāina, lessons learned from local and global scientific research, and input from various stakeholders, user groups, and community members. During the rest period, a sustainable fisheries management plan based on traditional practice and modern science will be developed through a similarly collaborative process.
We, the undersigned, support the KMLAC proposal to establish the Kaʻūpūlehu Marine Reserve to restore abundance and return productive and sustainable fishing to the region.
Why is this important?
For generations, the fishing families of Kaʻūpūlehu lived in harmony with land and sea, sustainably growing and harvesting what was needed. As change came to their home, these families worked to protect the practices that sustained their ancestors by encouraging voluntary catch limits, participating in regional fishery initiatives, and sharing traditional fishing methods and educational materials; yet despite these efforts, marine life continued to decline. In 2009, following decades of loss, members of the KMLAC began developing a culturally-rooted, community-based plan to replenish the marine life that sustains the people within the ahupua‘a of Kaʻūpūlehu and beyond.
A copy of the current rule proposal can be found at: http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/files/2014/05/HAWAII.13-60.4dr.pdf