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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/12/virus-tracker-dec-1-44-new-cases/" target="_self">VIRUS TRACKER — Dec. 1: 44 New COVID-19 Cases In Hawaii</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Tue, 01 Dec 2020 22:35:57 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('Health officials reported 44 new COVID-19 cases statewide on Tuesday, including 32 on Oahu, six on the Big Island and five on Maui. The location of the final case was not specified in the state’s daily case report. No new deaths were reported. The state’s official death toll is 244. Civil Beat calculates at least 259 people have died from the disease in Hawaii including 15 deaths on Hawaii island that are pending medical verification by the state. To date, 49 deaths on the Big Island have been recorded by the Hawaii County Civil Defense. The cases announced Tuesday reflect laboratory tests electronically reported to the Department of Health through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. There have been 1,243 new cases documented by health officials during the last two weeks. Reporting Lag Civil Beat’s virus tracker is updated when the state releases its daily numbers. The state posts new data daily at noon. The daily reports reflect laboratory results collected up until 11:59 p.m. two days prior, which means there is a 36-hour lag between when results are submitted to the Department of Health and when the state reports them publicly. According to Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for the Hawaii Department of Health, the COVID-19 case reports are based on test results from laboratories statewide and include test results from both residents and tourists tested within the state. The results of Hawaii residents who test positive out of state are also included, as well as cases confirmed among military service members and their family, although military cases are not specifically indicated. If a visitor takes a test outside of Hawaii, those test results are reported to their home state health authorities and would not be reflected in the Hawaii health department’s reports. In some cases, rapid point-of-care testing results are not submitted to the DOH and are not included in these daily reports either. For more information, check this Hawaii Department of Health COVID-19 site or this state site, and the Hawaii Data Collaborative COVID-19 Tracking site. The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency also provides this comprehensive dashboard. Cases, Deaths And COVID-19 Testing In Hawaii 17,968 COVID-19 Cases 259 Deaths 673,164 Tests performed Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Honolulu’s 7-Day Averages Tier 2 Current Tier* 64 Daily Case Count 2.1% Test Positivity Source: The City and County of Honolulu * The current case numbers and test positivity rate may not correlate with the metrics set for a specific tier as the county must spend at least four consecutive weeks in a tier and meet the metrics for the next tier before advancing, according to the reopening plan. More information of the City and County of Honolulu’s reopening strategy as well as details of the restrictions of Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 can be found at oneoahu.org Hawaii COVID-19 Cases By County !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var e in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var t=document.getElementById(\"datawrapper-chart-\"+e)||document.querySelector(\"iframe[src*=\'\"+e+\"\']\");t&&(t.style.height=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][e]+\"px\")}}))}(); Daily New COVID-19 Cases !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var e in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var t=document.getElementById(\"datawrapper-chart-\"+e)||document.querySelector(\"iframe[src*=\'\"+e+\"\']\");t&&(t.style.height=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][e]+\"px\")}}))}(); Number Of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In U.S. !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var e in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var t=document.getElementById(\"datawrapper-chart-\"+e)||document.querySelector(\"iframe[src*=\'\"+e+\"\']\");t&&(t.style.height=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][e]+\"px\")}}))}(); COVID-19 Cases Worldwide !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var e in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var t=document.getElementById(\"datawrapper-chart-\"+e)||document.querySelector(\"iframe[src*=\'\"+e+\"\']\");t&&(t.style.height=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][e]+\"px\")}}))}(); Want more information on COVID-19 in Hawaii? You can read all of Civil Beat’s coronavirus coverage, find answers to frequently asked questions or sign up for email newsletter updates — all for free. And check out pictures of how community groups and volunteers have been helping out in our Community Scrapbook. The post VIRUS TRACKER — Dec. 1: 44 New COVID-19 Cases In Hawaii appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/12/whos-really-the-party-of-the-rich/" target="_self">Who’s Really The Party Of The Rich?</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Tue, 01 Dec 2020 10:01:39 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('While there’s long been the stereotype that if you’re rich, you must be a Republican and the Democrats are the party of the blue-collar working class, this year’s election hinged on the opposite of that notion. The election split was not actually between red and blue states, but rather between urban and rural areas within those states. In every major swing state, Biden blue dominated major urban areas (Detroit, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Miami, etc.), while the majority of outlying areas ran Trump red. Taking a look at this geographical split yields some interesting findings.  In a study entitled “What Unites and Divides Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities,” The Pew Research Center highlights a number of key differences. Today 35% of urban residents have a college degree compared to 19% of rural residents. Concentrated poverty — a measure in which at least of fifth of the population is poor — occurs in 31% of rural counties compared to 19% of urban counties. The average earning (in 2016 dollars) was about $35,000 in rural counties and $50,000 in urban counties. This economic wealth gap is widening, creating not just a cultural split, but also resentment. Demographically, rural areas are more white and aging faster. Urban areas have a greater ethnic/racial mix and more immigrants. Three-quarters of rural Republicans/leaning Republican feel immigrants threaten traditional American customs and values, while three quarters of urban Democrats/leaning Democrat feel immigrants strengthen American society. The majority of rural residents feel whites don’t really benefit from advantages in society. Nearly 70% of urban residents disagree, saying whites benefit a fair amount to a great deal. In addition, majorities in both rural and urban areas feel their communities are looked down on and people in other types of communities don’t understand their problems. Given this disconnect, it’s not hard to understand how resentment manifests itself in campaign vitriol. “Rich liberal elites destroying the country, focusing on being woke instead of real economic issues.” “Uneducated hicks and racists who can’t think for themselves, blindly following an idiot with no morals.” Trump supporters staged a post-election caravan around Oahu.Kim Gamel/Civil Beat This role reversal pitted rich Democrats against blue-collar Republicans. It was the bicoastal urban elite vs. rural middle America. Much has been written about why Trump got so many votes (even more than in the 2016 election). But what people fail to recognize is that a large percentage of his voters are not endorsing Trump as an individual, they are making a statement of defiance. Trump is a vehicle for dissatisfaction, an emblem for people feeling unheard and left out. Studies show that on social media, the emotions that elicit the most powerful responses are fear and anger. These emotions are Trump’s bread and butter. For many of his voters, the prospect of liberals taking over the country trumped any personal shortcomings he had (sorry for the bad pun). So where does all this leave us? The United States is increasingly becoming a country of haves and have-nots. It’s not a question of which is the party of the rich. There are both rich and poor Democrats and Republicans. The problem is the rich are partying. The wealthiest 10% of Americans own 84% of stocks. Nearly 100 of the Fortune 500 companies paid zero taxes in 2018. Whether it’s dressed up as Republican or Democrat, the increasing gap between rich and poor factors into virtually every political issue: perpetuating systemic racism, the rationale for health coverage, the basis of tax policy, the impetus for education reform, the list goes on and on. Most people who live in a capitalist society accept that there will be some level of wealth inequality. But what is unacceptable is the notion of no longer being able to realize the American dream. Wealth has become more entrenched, and it is strangling opportunity and upward mobility. College has become more elitist and expensive. Surviving on low-paying jobs has become more difficult. Owning a home is for many virtually impossible. The U.S. has the highest level of income inequality of all industrialized nations, with over 40 million people living in poverty. Between 1980 and 2014 (the span of one generation), the income of the bottom 50% of U.S. earners (adjusted for inflation) basically stagnated while for the top 10% of earners, it increased 121% and for the top 1%, it increased 205%. The majority of America’s millennials today are worse off than their parents were at a similar age. These are the concerns that drive political rhetoric and bring people to the polls. And while Biden (who stole from Obama) said, “I don’t see red or blue states, I see the United States,” we need to be united in better addressing the real divide in this country: the gap between the haves and the have-nots. The post Who’s Really The Party Of The Rich? appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/12/why-the-navy-is-becoming-a-powerful-force-for-clean-energy/" target="_self">Why The Navy Is Becoming A Powerful Force For Clean Energy</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Tue, 01 Dec 2020 10:01:29 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('As the Navy looks to the future of its operations in the Pacific, it’s increasingly exploring renewable energy and other new technologies to get the job done. That gives it something in common with Hawaii. For years the military has opened up space on island bases to local utility companies to develop energy generation projects, including solar and wind farms, that provide power to both civilian customers and the bases themselves.  In October, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii began soliciting renewable and fossil fuel-based proposals from developers to plan, finance, construct, own, operate and maintain an energy generation system and storage system on about 160 acres of land at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Hawaiian Electric’s 20-megawatt West Loch solar project on U.S. Navy land near Pearl Harbor went into service in 2019 and is one of the state’s largest.Courtesy Hawaiian Electric The military has long clashed with activists and state officials over the environmental impact of decades of live-fire training, construction projects, threats to marine wildlife and other issues. But all agree on the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. “It’s a very tangible example of where the state’s goals and the military’s goals overlap,” said Amanda Ellis, a former New Zealand diplomat and the Hawaii and Asia-Pacific Director for Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. In 2015, Hawaii, which has the most expensive energy bills in the country, became the first state to pledge to work toward powering the state with 100% renewable energy by 2045. It has been the most petroleum-dependent state, depending heavily on oil and coal brought in by sea to power its electrical grid.  For the Navy, which conducts near-constant operations across countless islands and waterways, power sources that can be replenished naturally offer game-changing possibilities for military operations.  The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of global supply chains, says Erith Evans, the energy program manager at Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Pacific. The spread of the virus has caused massive disruptions to maritime shipping and is likely to have long-lasting impacts on the delivery of goods. “(With) the next generation of renewables, we don’t have to bring in so much fuel to the island, and we know that that fuel supply chain is, I’ll call it fragile,” Evans said in a recent telephone interview.  “That allows us to stay viable and allows us to perform our mission, even if possibly our supply chains are cut, because we’re able to generate power from a renewable source,” Evans added. In May 2019, the Navy and Kauai Island Utility Cooperative launched a partnership to expand renewable energy at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. Their plan calls for the development of a 19.3 megawatt solar facility in conjunction with a 70 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system to reduce the installation’s reliance on diesel generators. In November 2019, Hawaiian Electric Co. dedicated an 80,760 panel solar project built on 102 acres of the Navy’s West Loch Annex at Pearl Harbor. That project was projected to save Hawaiian Electric customers as much as $109 million over its expected 25-year lifespan and reduce the utility’s use of imported oil by as much as 3 million gallons annually. In exchange for the land to host solar panels, the electric company agreed to provide infrastructure upgrades to the Navy’s facilities. “Projects like West Loch Solar are a win-win for the community and the Navy, helping to advance the state’s renewable energy goals,” Hawaiian Electric spokeswoman Shannon Tangonan said in an e-mail. “It’s a very tangible example of where the state’s goals and the military’s goals overlap.” — Amanda Ellis of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. While Navy officials said that most of the power generation on military land is done by utilities without taxpayer expense, the Navy is also paying for several solar power and energy efficiency projects of its own. “These partnerships, whether they are with our island’s utilities or with our industry partners, they definitely strengthen our ability to provide reliable and resilient and more efficient energy through our installations,” Evans said. In September NAVFAC Hawaii awarded Ameresco Inc. a $14 million contract to install a solar power and a solar thermal system along with several energy efficiency upgrades at its Wahiawa Annex. The contract calls for panels to be installed on a canopy over a portion of an existing base parking lot and is expected to be completed by October 2022. ‘A Warfighting Advantage’ Navy leaders have long worried about the effects of climate change. In 2013, Adm. Samuel Locklear told The Boston Globe that climate change is the greatest threat to the Pacific region and that resulting conflicts and disasters “will cripple the security environment, probably more likely than the other scenarios we all often talk about.” Competition over fossil fuels also has been a driver for both military confrontation and environmental degradation. The Hawaii-based Pacific Fleet has stepped up operations in the South China Sea amid a standoff with China over access to critical trade routes and potentially rich undersea oil and gas reserves.  While it’s looking to renewable power for its facilities, the Navy’s aircraft and warships remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels and that continues to take an environmental toll. A 2019 report from Brown University found that the U.S. military produces more carbon emissions than many entire industrialized nations. In Hawaii, the military’s largest fuel reserve is the Navy’s Red Hill underground facility in Halawa. The aging tanks have leaked into Oahu’s drinking water several times over the years. Last month the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health rejected a Navy proposal to upgrade the tanks, saying the plan was “deficient” and didn’t demonstrate how it would “minimize risk and impact to the drinking water.” They asked the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency to resubmit a revised plan. The Navy has pursued renewable energy projects in Hawaii in the midst of a divisive political debate over environmental and energy policy.Cory Lum/Civil Beat The Navy has pursued renewable energy projects despite vocal skepticism from President Donald Trump, a fierce opponent of environmental research and green energy whose 2016 campaign succeeded in part by promising to protect jobs in the coal, oil and gas industries.  Former Pentagon officials accused the Trump administration of purposely slowing military renewable energy projects. Following the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a renewable energy advocate, the Navy disbanded its climate change task force that started under the Obama administration. The Trump administration pushed officials not to use the term “climate change” and withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged that he would work toward making the United States carbon neutral by 2050, but debate over environmental and energy policy will likely remain divisive. “I think the debate should be focused on a science-based approach,” said Scott Swift, a retired admiral who commanded the Pacific Fleet from 2015 to 2018.  Swift said the military should use renewable energy in as many ways as possible, especially on rooftops around military bases that could easily be used for solar panels.  Swift argued that the private sector has sometimes been slow to adopt renewable energy due to high up-front costs but that the military — which doesn’t have to worry about quarterly profits — can potentially undertake seemingly costly projects that save money in the long run. “There’s a warfighting advantage to it, an environmental advantage to it, an economic advantage to it,” he said. Rising sea levels and melting ice caps already have had a tangible impact on military operations as ecosystems change shape and some coastal bases face storms and flooding. A 2019 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office found the military wasn’t acting fast enough to protect bases from changing conditions. Evans said green and renewable energy systems are becoming increasingly affordable. “The technology is becoming more readily available. There was a point when we couldn’t get battery storage, it wasn’t cost-effective. And now it is cost-effective,” she said. The post Why The Navy Is Becoming A Powerful Force For Clean Energy appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/12/denby-fawcett-parents-fear-this-hawaii-school-is-bringing-kids-back-to-classroom-too-soon/" target="_self">Denby Fawcett: Parents Fear This Hawaii School Is Bringing Kids Back To Classroom Too Soon</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Tue, 01 Dec 2020 10:01:19 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('Princess Victoria Kaiulani Elementary School in Kalihi told parents of kindergartners and first graders it was time to bring their children back to school on Nov. 16 for face-to-face learning. That was even though some parents, including Lita Yere, said they did not want their children back together in the classroom when COVID-19 continues to spread through the community. “I am too scared. I didn’t feel safe sending her back,” Yere said of her first grade daughter, Yuna. Princess Victoria Kaiulani Elementary School in Honolulu resumed in-person classes for kindergartners and first graders on Nov. 16 despite some parents’ concerns that it was unsafe.Courtesy: Hawaii Department of Education Yere said the school only gave her two options if she decided not bring her daughter back: transfer the little girl to another school offering distance learning or do home schooling. “I can’t do homeschooling. I am working in my restaurant. I have two other children, 5-year-old twins I am helping with their own online preschool lessons. My daughter likes Kaiulani and enjoys her friends there. This feels like she is getting kicked out,” Yere said in a recent telephone conversation. She owns M & N Filipino Restaurant on N. King St., directly across from Kaiulani Elementary. Her daughter’s teacher, Paul Bauer, told Yere and other parents that he was willing to continue to teach their children using the virtual learning platform Google Classroom, as he has been doing since the school year started in August. But principal Jill Texeira has made it clear to Bauer that this was not an option for students in kindergarten and the first grade at the Honolulu school. “Our youngest learners require the full attention of their teachers for the highest quality of education possible,” she said in an email to Civil Beat. She added that parents may home school their children if they feel unsafe. In August, when COVID-19 infections were soaring  — 355 on Aug. 13 —  almost all of Hawaii’s public school students were directed to online learning provided by their teachers, who created their own lesson plans using virtual learning platforms such as Google Classroom. Now in the second quarter, some schools such as Kaiulani have decided to return to face-to-face instruction for some grade levels. Each principal at Hawaii’s 257 public schools is given leeway by the Department of Education to decide how he or she wants to do it. DOE Says It’s Up To The Principal The department says 9.7% or 16,531 of Hawaii’s some 170,000 public school students have returned to full in-person learning. The rest are doing distance learning or blended learning with only some of the students back in classrooms at the same time, the rest online. Bauer, the teacher, said in a phone interview that parents of more than half of his 11 students were reluctant to have their children return to his classroom so he offered to accommodate them online while teaching the other students face-to-face. “Everything would be the same for students staying home, seamless. They would not need to adjust because they had been learning that way since August,” he said. He said he also felt safer himself with fewer students in the room at the same time because he has underlying medical conditions and worries he could become dangerously sick if he contracted the virus. But Bauer says the Kaiulani principal came into his class on the first day of in-person learning and was upset when she saw only two students there while the rest were on a screen. Bauer said Texeira told him all his students needed to be back in school. Then at his insistence, she looked into the camera and told the parents their children must return to the classroom the next day. “I have to say this was one of the most stressful days of my career. I didn’t feel support from the school. I didn’t know what to say,” said Bauer, who has been a Hawaii public school teacher in the Kalihi area for 21 years. Teacher Paul Bauer leads his first grade class on Nov. 16, 2020, at Princess Victoria Kaiulani Elementary School.Courtesy: Hawaii Department of Education Fellow Kaiulani Elementary teacher Jason Pavia agreed. “It is very troubling to hear that parents do not have the option of distance learning when they feel it is best for their children and there is a teacher who is willing to provide it for them,” Pavia said. Texeira said that if Bauer were allowed to continue with distance learning, then the service would have to be offered by the other teachers at the school as well. “Our individual classrooms are one part of our greater school community and we need to ensure all students have equitable access to any alternative learning opportunities,” she said. “Although well-intentioned, Mr. Bauer made unilateral decisions without consulting with or informing school administrators.” She said she felt it was time for the younger children to come back. “Most of our children have been physically away from campus for eight months during the pandemic, so it has been exciting and heartwarming to be able to resume in-person learning for some of our students,” she wrote. She said she has also been working to bring back to campus students whose parents in the summer signed them up for a full school year of the Acellus Learning Accelerator, the controversial online learning platform the DOE expects to phase out at the end of the school year. Acellus is a separate and different kind of distance learning than the teacher-driven instruction Bauer and other public school teachers had been providing. “Parents should be able to decide what is safe for their children.” — Hawaii State Teachers Association president Corey Rosenlee Bauer acknowledged that he should have first told Texeira about his plan to continue to offer virtual learning to parents who preferred it, but he was worried she would have refused to let him do it. He was hoping she would agree to it as an option after seeing his work in progress. Hawaii State Teachers Association president Corey Rosenlee said flexibility is needed. As president of the union, he said he is unable to address individual situations like Bauer’s, but he thinks parents should be offered every reasonable option possible for their children during the pandemic. “We have never been in a situation like this before. Parents should be able to decide what is safe for their children,” he said, adding that teachers also should feel safe. He said the pandemic has prompted some Hawaii teachers to retire or give up teaching early because of pandemic safety concerns. The union has championed a wait-and-see approach. “We are hoping in the spring it will be safer for students and teachers to go back to face-to-face learning,” he said. Some Kaiulani Elementary parents said they didn’t have time to consult with the school or to absorb the news after being told at the last minute about the resumption of person-to-person classes. Some said they got the news by automated voice messages on the day before classes resumed. One parent said her phone was broken and she only found out that in-person learning was about to begin because she happened to be in the school office. Kaiulani parent Arsney McCoy decided to keep her daughter Kai-Ann home after being given the options of keeping her daughter at home with no instruction or homeschooling her. “I want her to continue distance learning with Mr. Bauer. Until we can be sure about getting a vaccine, it is not safe for the children to be in school. They are too young. They are unable to remember all the safety protocols like to keep washing their hands. I don’t want her to bring back the virus when I have two other children living at home. I have to protect my children,” she said. Princess Victoria Kaiulani Elementary School in Honolulu resumed in-person classes for kindergartners and first graders on Nov. 16 despite parental concerns it was unsafe.Courtesy: Hawaii Department of Education Parent Naisha Kekumu-Credo said she is in the same dilemma. She is keeping her first grader, Levy, home because she worries about the safety of her two other children, a 2-month-old infant and a 1-year-old whose continuing care is dependent on her staying healthy. “I was caught off guard when I was told Levy would have to go back to school. I worried that he wouldn’t remember to keep social distancing when he was out playing at recess. I don’t want him to get sick,” she said. “We are still in Level II in Hawaii when no more than five non-household members are supposed to be together in a group. It’s not all right to insist that a whole classroom be back in school at once.” “I was happy when Mr. Bauer offered to continue distance learning for some of the students.  I don’t see what the issue is,” she added. Bauer has taken sick leave, he said, until it can be determined if some Kaiulani Elementary students can be given the option of learning virtually from him until they feel less wary of the virus. He has filed a formal complaint with the state schools superintendent and the Board of Education. The DOE in an emailed statement sent before Bauer filed the complaint said it could not speak directly to his situation. “Parents who did not opt to do a virtual-only solution at the beginning of the year and are currently uncomfortable with their child transitioning to blended or in-person learning should speak to their principal about available options for full-distance learning,” the department said. The parents I spoke with said they already did exactly that only to discover there are no options for distance learning at Kaiulani Elementary for children in kindergarten or the first grade, not even with the controversial Acellus program, because they did not sign up for that at the beginning of the year. The post Denby Fawcett: Parents Fear This Hawaii School Is Bringing Kids Back To Classroom Too Soon appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
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document.write('<li class="rss-item"><a class="rss-item" href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/11/new-court-ruling-further-restricts-commercial-aquarium-fishing-in-hawaii/" target="_self">New Court Ruling Further Restricts Commercial Aquarium Fishing In Hawaii</a><br />');
document.write('<span class="rss-date">Tue, 01 Dec 2020 05:16:44 +0000</span><br />');
document.write('A new state environmental court ruling is expected to rein in Hawaii’s aquarium fish trade and give a boost to opponents of the controversial commercial practice in local waters. It won’t bring that practice to an immediate halt, however, and that has some conservationists worried there could be a “run on the reefs” by aquarium fish collectors before their permits expire. First Circuit Judge Jeffrey Crabtree’s order, issued Friday, found that the state agency responsible for protecting Hawaii’s nearshore waters has been violating state environmental law because it fails to require the proper environmental reviews for all aquarium fishing. Previously, in 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court made clear that commercial fishermen needed an approved environmental impact statement if they wanted to use fine-mesh nets to collect aquarium fish. A kole tang, the second most targeted species in West Hawaii by the aquarium fishers.FromSandToGlass/Flickr Still, the Department of Land and Natural Resources continued to issue commercial marine licenses, or “CMLs,” for the aquarium fishermen who used methods other than mesh nets, under a different state statute. Crabtree’s order says that practice violated the state’s Environmental Policy Act. In less than three years since that Supreme Court ruling came out, more than half a million fish have been collected from Hawaii waters for aquarium sales, according to figures provided by DLNR to the court. “The court finds the current levels of commercial aquarium fish capture … (are) far more than enough to meet the criteria for HEPA,” Crabtree wrote, referring to the state’s environmental review process. DLNR said in a statement Monday that it’s taking “immediate steps” to comply with Crabtree’s order. Specifically, it said it won’t issue any new CMLs for aquarium fishing, nor would it renew the existing licenses. However, the agency did not say it would cancel the existing CMLs for aquarium fish sales. Instead, the DLNR statement pointed out that Crabtree had declined to issue an immediate injunction against the licenses as part of his order. The DLNR’s statement is “a good start” and reflects Crabtree’s order to come to an agreement, said Mahesh Cleveland, associate attorney with the environmental legal group Earthjustice. The law firm’s Mid-Pacific office filed suit against DLNR on behalf of longtime aquarium trade opponents such as Willie Kaupiko and Mike Nakachi. “I can’t really predict where this is going to go,” Cleveland said. Earthjustice and its clients are weighing next steps, he added. “The concern is that by not invalidating existing CMLs that’ll cause those collectors to do a run on the reef,” Cleveland added. Such licenses expire after a year, DLNR said. Out of 3,000 CMLs for the state, only 41 report catches for aquarium sales, it added. The local aquarium trade had generated a lot of contention in recent decades, particularly on Hawaii island’s Kona side, where there have been numerous reported confrontations and even worrisome underwater altercations between harvesters and those determined to stop the trade. DLNR has also arrested several people for illegal aquarium fishing following the Supreme Court’s 2017 order. In one bizarre episode in September, a well-known Kailua Kona-based aquarium fisherman, Steve Howard, refused to tell DLNR authorities the whereabouts of two divers working with him once they intercepted Howard on the water. The missing divers prompted a search-and-rescue operation in West Hawaii, but they were later found safe at a gas station with their diving equipment. Howard was arrested. Members of the local aquarium industry couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday. The post New Court Ruling Further Restricts Commercial Aquarium Fishing In Hawaii appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.');
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