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MiCMAEL D WILSON 



AQUACLATuRE DEVELOPMENT 



STATE OF HAWAII 

 DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



HONOLULU HAWAII 96609 



RESOURCES ENFORCEMENT 



CONVEYANCES 



FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE 



HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAM 



LAND MANAGEMENT 



STAT? PARXS 



WATER AND LAND DEVELOPMENT 



TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL D. WILSON, CHAIRPERSON 



BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



STATE OF HAWAII 



BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 



ON THE ROLE OF NATIVE HAWAIIANS AND INDIGENOUS PACIFIC 



ISLANDERS IN THE CONSERVATION, MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT 



OF WESTERN PACIFIC FISHERIES 



JUNE 1, 1995 



All Pacific Islanders, including native Hawaiians, to this day, depend heavily on fish and 

 other renewable ocean resources for sustenance. Unlike natives of the continental United 

 States, land area and therefore land-based food resources are very limited. 



Historically, the original Hawaiians made maximum use of ocean resources without depleting 

 them. Strict kapu were established to conserve the resources and violations could be 

 punishable by death. Such conservation practices have eroded over the years yielding to 

 western and eastern fishing practices, and external factors such as pollution, runoff and other 

 modern conflicting uses of our oceans. Now, nearly all of Hawaii's fisheries resources are 

 considered fully or over-exploited. I am committed to curb this situation and have recently 

 convened a task force to address the management of certain bottomfishes. 



However, State resources alone cannot accomplish our goals. There is definite need for the 

 Federal Government's as well as Hawaii's residents commitment to this task. I know that 

 government spending is being carefully scrutinized and any available resources directed to 

 public safety, health and education, putting natural resource management on the "back- 

 burner." 



However, we must recognize native rights and natural resource uses for all. We are most 

 pleased with the proposed amendments to the Magnuson Fishery Management and 

 Conservation Act. The suggested funding and technical assistance to be realized by 

 community-based fishery demonstration projects is a step in the right direction. 



With reference to our efforts for co-management of Hawaiian natural resources, I submit the 

 following. In 1993, a joint government and community "Governor's Molokai Subsistence 

 Task Force" was formed to address the needs and concerns of subsistence practitioners on 

 that financially depressed island. One of the recommendations was to let the community on 

 the Northwest end of Molokai manage shoreline marine resources in the area for subsistence 

 fishing. A copy of the Final Report is being submitted for the record. 



