The Department of Land and Natural Resources will hold hearings statewide to discuss amendments to state laws regarding lay nets — again.
In December, the DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources unveiled a new series of rules governing lay nets and other fishing equipment and scheduled public hearings on the matter. On Friday, DAR commercial fisheries administrator David Sakoda said those hearings were less than successful.
“We did hold one Zoom public hearing on the proposal that was approved by the Board (of Land and Natural Resources) in December,” Sakoda said during a BLNR meeting Friday. “That was on March 15, and we had only one person show up — no fishermen. And we realized our outreach efforts were insufficient.”
Sakoda said DAR will therefore hold further hearings on the matter on each island to maximize public engagement. However, he also presented a series of additional amendments to the new rules based on feedback from the DLNR.
Lay nets, which are fishing nets left suspended in a body of water to passively catch fish, can entangle and kill other species in the process, including endangered marine life. The new rules proposed in December limited the use of lay nets, requiring a $25 permit for the use and possession of them, and mandated that the nets be attended at all times.
However, the December rules inadvertently caught another piece of fishing equipment in the crossfire. The amended rules proposed Friday would clarify that lobster nets are a distinct piece of equipment from lay nets.
“(DAR) staff raised concerns that the definition of lay nets to include lobster nets would effectively prohibit lobster netting,” Sakoda said. “We’ve always considered lobster nets as not lay nets.”
Lobster nets, like lay nets, are left in the water to passively catch lobsters. However, because they rest on the bottom of the ocean, are smaller than lay nets and easier to see, they should be classified as distinct from lay nets, Sakoda said.
Sakoda said DAR plans to introduce rules regulating the use of lobster nets — “lobster regulations in general are somewhat outdated; there’s no bag limits, there’s no definition or regulations for lobster netting,” he said — but he added that separating the lobster net issue from the lay net issue will help focus public testimony.
The remainder of the proposed rules are unchanged from December. Those rule changes include the $25 lay net permit fee, amended definitions of terms like “freshwater stream,” and would allow the state to seize assets involved in a lay net violation, among other things.
The BLNR voted unanimously Friday to approve the newly amended proposed rules, which will be put out for public comment in a series of meetings at dates to be determined.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.