Blog
News, updates, finds, stories, and tidbits from staff and community members at KAHEA. Got something to share? Email us at: kahea-alliance@hawaii.rr.com.
State finally getting it right for Northwestern Hawaiian Islands... -ish.
Last week, the Board of Land and Natural Resources held a special meeting to consider several permit applications from HIMB researchers for activities in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Papahānaumokuākea. After several years of public testimony at every permit hearing — and even finally, a lawsuit! – the Land Board and its staff finally admitted: a cumulative impact assessment IS needed to understand the affects of harmful human activity on this extremely fragile place BEFORE permits are issued to allow prohibited activities. Hallelujah!
Unfortunately, knowing you were wrong and getting it right are not the same thing.
At the meeting, staff gave a very technical presentation about past permitted activities, how they are documented, and what the likely affects are. Then representatives from the applicants — Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) — testified to studies they have conducted on themselves to assess the impact they are (not) having on the environment. These are good and noble acts that should be continued, but do not get at the heart of the issue over the issuance of permits for taking species, dumping waste water, anchoring, constructing, and dredging activities in the largest NO-TAKE marine reserve in Hawai’i. These activities have the potential to harm the very thing that is trying to be studied (and ostensibly saved). Yet? Still no cumulative impact assessment. Still no environmental assessment.
The researchers and the staff obviously have some information about the impacts of human activities in the NWHI. Why not put that together into an environmental impact statement and release it for public comment?
Permits are required because the activities requested are prohibited. Permission is to be given for prohibited activities when they are necessary for conservation, management and cultural perpetuation. This is at the heart of a “permit” system.
The issue: We are supposed to have a public process to evaluate what activities are really needed, and balance them against the cumulative impacts. How can we do this without the legally required environmental assessment (EA)? Or for that matter, without a public process?
All the while granting of permits continues to be driven by availability of grant/Federal dollars, rather than the actual need for the activity.
Today, decisions for the Monument are being made in the dark–and it shows. We continue to ask: open up the Monument to transparent, accountable decision making for this public trust. Hold public meetings of the Monument Management Board, where permitting decisions can be made in the light of day. Really, what is there to hide?
Reading: Edible Hawaiian Islands
This issue of Edible Hawaiian Islands is devoted to fish, fishing, and fisheries. How fish gets from the sea to your plate, and everything in between.
Some interesting ideas on the future for “sustainable” fisheries by Jon Letman, and on raising fish “Loko” style by Rob Parsons.
We’re liking: Rob’s interview with Michael Kumuhauoha Lee, of the ‘Ewa Beach Limu Restoration Project–
Lee believes that modern Western aquaculture systems run into difficulties by trying to maximize dollar output, and by not looking at how true natural resource systems of abundance are created. “It is the Hawaiian belief,” says Lee, “that everything is a living being. The outer fishpond rock walls are like the skin–they are porous and allow zoo-plankton to pass through. Plankton and algae are among the most basic life forms.
“The fresh-water springs are like a circulatory system,” says Lee. “It is essential to set up a diverse biosphere, and to plant and seed the limu to attract the fish into the pond. Don’t disregard the vitality of the elemental systems, the safeguards and the knowledge that is already here.”
Why Jay Hates Us This Week
From Miwa:
I tend not to get too worked up about what people say in the papers, but this I just had to share… Below is a copy of Jay Fidell’s column in the Honolulu Advertiser (published Sunday).
In it, he articulates his opposition to the newly formed Pono Aquaculture Alliance.*
My personal favorite quote from Mr. Fidell: ”For their own agenda, the activists are ignoring state policy and creating an imbalance that is not fair or pono. The sooner our officials realize this, the sooner the imbalance can be corrected and we can catch up. Short of that, we’re headed for backwater, where we really will need those ancient fishponds.”
Backwater = Fishponds? It’s news to us.
The “state policy” I *think* he is referring to, is the Ocean Resources Management Plan–which sets forth a goal of ten new aquaculture operations in Hawai’i… after a public planning process to determine ocean areas where aquaculture is appropriate. No such planning process has ever occurred.
Some other things to consider:
- The Hawaii Ocean Technology (HOTI) new ahi feedlot proposed for Hawai’i Island will import 100% of its fish feed and export 90% of its fish to Japan and the U.S. continent. This is contributing to food security… how?
- The report Jay attacks in his piece is accompanied by 180 citations and footnotes, and is the result of over a year of investigative research work.
- Feeding wild fish to farmed fish (since high-value fish like tuna are carnivorous) is actually contributing to the decline of fish stocks like herring, mackerel, and sardine around the world. (It takes about 3 lbs of wild fish to produce 1lb of farmed seafood). How you do aquaculture, and at what scale, matters. A lot.
If you’re moved to write in response to Jay, you can submit your letter to the editor here: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/current/op/submitletter
NOAA is holding its Honolulu “listening session” tomorrow–one of six such meetings on its proposed policy on open ocean aquaculture. Proposals to open waters currently under U.S. federal jurisdiction (outside 3 miles) to aquaculture operations in the next few years are currently on the table. (2:30 – 4:30PM, Ala Moana Hotel) And likely why Jay is ranting about us this week!
*The Pono Aquaculture Alliance (PAʻA) is a group of cultural practioners, fishers, scientists, environmental advocates, and “aquaculturists” advocating basic principles of “pono aquaculture”–which include no use of hormones or pharma-chemicals, no GMO feed, and ensuring public access to ocean areas–and promoting aquaculture (like fish ponds, aquaponic systems and other forms of aquaculture) that promote ecosystem health, feed communities, and promote food sovereignty/security. Uncle Isaac Harp is leading this effort for KAHEA, and we deeply appreciate his work as well as the work of so many other dedicated individuals and organizations on this issue.
From Jay Fidell:
Aquaculture’s the new target of Isle activists
Some say aquaculture is Hawai’i's next great sector, growing fish to provide us with food security, jobs and tax revenues for the state. The market is assured because the oceans can’t meet world demand. Others say aquaculture will be the next whipping boy for the activists who are determined to bring it down.
Why would activists target such a promising new industry, especially where Hawai’i has lost self-sufficiency and imports 90 percent of its seafood? Maybe it’s because the activists, like everyone else, are suffering in the recession, and desperate times call for desperate causes.
Activism is an industry dedicated not to building things, but stopping them. As others, activists have to pay for office space, staff, lawyers and PR. To pay their bills, they have to identify with causes. Old causes are old hat — they need fresh controversies to raise fresh money. No cause, no protest, no money.
TARGET OF CONVENIENCE
Aquaculture seems like a good target. Startups have to run the gauntlet and bear lengthy delays in dealing with government. Activists know that this burns capital and decimates cash. They know how hard it is for startups to raise capital in Hawai’i. In desperate times, aquaculture is all the more vulnerable.
The activists don’t know much about aquaculture, so they’ve connected with Food and Water Watch, a nonprofit in Washington and San Francisco. It’s a multi-million dollar organization with 65 employees. It’s big business.
FWW attacks Starbucks and water bottlers because they use water, a public resource, to make a profit. They also oppose aquaculture nationally. Hawai’i is a perfect laboratory for aquaculture and thus for FWW. If aquaculture can be stopped here, it can be stopped across the country, mission accomplished.
PITCHED BATTLE OF WEBSITES
The result is lots of protest — blogs, websites, brochures, bulk mail, fuming letters to the editor, “embargoed” reports, and over-the-top press releases. It’s a full-tilt campaign to scare the public with stories of evil corporations spilling tons of GMOs, pernicious antibiotics and toxic chemicals into the ocean.
Those stories, like Avatar, are untrue.
Then add regular appearances at government meetings and moratorium bills by suggestible legislators. The activists want their new aquaculture cause to resonate with earlier ones against GMOs and Superferry, telescopes and geothermal. For 2010, aquaculture is the cause of the day.
The activists attacking aquaculture are professionals who have been involved in every cause you can think of, from Kingdom Title forward. With help from FWW, their new alliance is Pono Aquaculture, but the players are the same few people and organizations that have been protesting causes in Hawai’i for years.
MISSTATEMENTS GALORE
From a factual point of view, the FWW attack on aquaculture is unbridled. In many ways, its hostility surpasses that of the Superferry opponents. Perhaps that’s because there is less to support it. Instead of a reasoned conversation, we get exaggerations, misstatements, mischaracterizations, and lots of name calling.
After working to slow down and undermine the aquaculture sector on every level, they claim “factory fish farming” is unprofitable and failing. There it is — first you create misfortune for your adversary, and then you criticize him for it.
Beyond that, they tap into our local culture to sell their cause to people who are disaffected, fabricating an array of arguments for the proposition that aquaculture, which has long been designated as a top priority in our state policy, now somehow violates exclusive native Hawaiian fishing rights.
MEDIA VULNERABILITY
We can’t run a state if we take our signals from those who are opposed to virtually everything. We need to know science and do critical thinking. We need someone to regularly investigate the facts and inform an unwary public.
Unfortunately, the media does not always do this. That’s not fair to the readers. Activist organizations try to foment public opposition using the media. If the media takes everything they say at face value without further inquiry, you can be sure the public will be misinformed. If the media doesn’t do critical thinking to identify misinformation, who will?
HAWAI’I, THE CONSUMER STATE
By not developing aquaculture, we have no food security and we’re spending almost as much buying foreign fish as buying foreign oil. As an island state, we should have the best ferry system in the world. We should also have the best aquaculture in the world. We don’t. There’s no good reason for that.
For their own agenda, the activists are ignoring state policy and creating an imbalance that is not fair or pono. The sooner our officials realize this, the sooner the imbalance can be corrected and we can catch up. Short of that, we’re headed for backwater, where we really will need those ancient fishponds.
In Hawai’i, it’s been politically incorrect to argue with activists. If the majority cares about our future, they’ll have to speak out. Democracy is more than anti-policy imposed by a militant few. A passive majority is the ultimate complicity.
Will aquaculture be the next Superferry? You decide.
Jay Fidell is a business lawyer practicing in Honolulu. He has followed tech and tech policy closely and is a founder of ThinkTech Hawaii.
Admit it, we were right all along
From Marti:
We have commented on every permit issued and every plan released concerning Papahanaumokuakea because we want to see these public trust resources protected. At every hearing for five years, we have asked the co-managers to assess the cumulative impact of human activities in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
They punted on the monument management plan and fumbled on the science plan, but never stopped issuing precious permits for invasive, extractive (often federally funded) research in this visionary no-take-refuge. Not only that, they issued these permits with exemptions from all environmental review.
We think these exemptions are being issued improperly. This is the only critical habitat for Hawaiian monk seals — you can’t just assume activities there will not affect their fragile, important environment. So we sued.
Now, a year later, we may finally be seeing some action — at least at the State level. Last week, nine permit applications for all kinds of research in the state’s NWHI marine refuge were deferred after the Land Board members conferred with a Deputy Attorney General in executive session. We have no idea what was said. But a special Land Board hearing just for these permit applications was announced for Monday April 19th.
What will the Land Board do? Continue to issue permits that are improperly exempted from all environmental review or finally require that a real, cumulative impact assessment is completed — one that is public and takes into consideration all of the horrible things human exploitation has done to this amazing, irreplaceable marine environment?
Kāhea for Mauna Kea
Interviews with Debbie Ward and Kealoha Pisciotta, two members of the Mauna Kea Hui, with the call to stop desecration and destruction of sacred sites and unique native habitat on Mauna Kea’s summit. We know that artificially low rent–of $1/year–paid by some of the wealthiest institutions and corporations in the world is accelerating industrialization of the summit, in the middle of a state financial crisis. Mahalo to these two amazing women, and to Pono, with aloha.
You can support the Mauna Kea legislative resolutions calling for a financial audit in support of fair market rent on Mauna Kea, and a stop to further desecration on the sacred summit by submitting testimony at: http://tiny.cc/mkrent_duenow
Hawaiians, mountain in 'Avatar'-like struggle
From Marti:
Great editorial in the Sacramento Bee yesterday about the analogies between the struggle depicted in the movie Avatar and the real world struggle to protect the last pristine plateau of Mauna Kea. Here’s a quote:
The California astronomers’ “unobtanium” quest – research papers revealing “the secrets of the universe” and identifying planets beyond our solar system – is certainly more noble than mining minerals, but it’s another example of promoting one culture’s notion of progress by overriding another’s reverence for the land. As in the movie, behind the Mauna Kea invaders stands the big money of a starry-eyed entrepreneur, Intel co-founder and telescope donor Gordon Moore.
Particularly rich was the comment posted by Richard Ha about the importance of process. Totally agree, Uncle, which is why we oppose a plan to manage the summit conservation district that is written by the lead-developer of the summit. Just as one example, the plan puts no limit on the number of telescopes that could be built on the summit.
This is not surprising. For decades, the University of Hawaii has promised to better protect the natural and cultural resources of the summit while actively destroying them. This TMT+CMP combo is just the latest example.
From Friends on the Big Island: Learn Sustainability Practices from Local Experts
Hawai’i Island Sustainable Living Educational Series
The 2010 Sustainable Living Educational Series begins in Waimea!
Come, join your neighbors, bring the ohana! Hele Mai! Learn to become more self-sufficient in many areas of practice, attend all classes on local sustainability topics.
Sustainable Living Educational Series
Introductory classes on Now in Waimea! (across from Parker Ranch Center)
Introduction to Solar Power Systems | Thur. 02/25/2010
http://greencollartech.com/introduction-solar-power-systems-class.htm
Introduction to Rainwater Harvesting – Catchment Systems | Thur. 03/04/2010
http://greencollartech.com/introduction-rainwater-harvesting-catchment-systems-class.htm
Introduction to Sustainable Gardening | Thursday 03/11/2010
http://greencollartech.com/introduction-sustainable-gardening-class.htm
Introduction to Green Home Building | Thur. 03/18/2010
http://greencollartech.com/introduction-green-home-building-class.htm
Introduction to Professional Web Design and Development | Thur. 04/05/10
http://www.waimeaeducation.com/classes/475/introduction-to-professional-web-design-and-development
Introduction to Online Marketing | Thur. 03/29/10
http://www.waimeaeducation.com/classes/474/introduction-to-online-marketing
Classes are currently being held in the Waimea Community Education Center.
Help your family, your neighbors, your community. It starts with you!
Learn how to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle.
View instructor bios, class details and register online:
