Untitledimprovement within the fisheries industry and the high
rate of increase of the real value of fisheries products
have caused traditional fishery grounds to be
overexploited. A number of conventional species have
reached their maximum sustainable yield or are fast
approaching it Bell}.
natural resource within the Skate of Hawaii and have the
potential to decrease State dependence on imported
seafood products as well as providing jobs and income,
the State of Hawaii through legislation and executive
action has actively pursued the development of the
fisheries within its jurisdiction State of Elawaii!.
The Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 3.976
was passed by Congress with provisions for extended
jurisdiction. National and local attention has since
been focused on the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a
fisheries area to be developed under careful management.
However, the Northwest Hawaiian Xslands present a special
problem for development and management due to
possibilities of conflict between fisheries development
and protection of the area's unique flora and fauna some
of which are legally defined as "endangered" or
"threatened"!.
various agencies on the Federal and State levels. The
delicate balance between the marine and terrestrial
ecosystem of the area has been historically protected by
the Federal government, traditionally the Department of
the Interior through the administration of the Hawaiian
Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The protection of the
Hawaiian monk seals and the green sea turtles which are
inhabitants of the refuge is primarily the responsibility
of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Department of
Commerce. Along with these two agencies, the State of
Hawaii has also declared the Northwest Hawaiian Islands a
State Refuge and jurisdiction over this area rests with
the Department of Land and Natural Resources. These
circumstances make comprehensive planning for fishery
development and wildlife management critical and
essential for the area since decisions regarding the use
and allocation of the resources of the Northwest Hawaiian
Islands will be made by a collection of decision-makers
in the public arena.
as the Northwest Hawaiian Islands where non-market goods
such as natural resource environments< wildlife species,
and public goods may be adversely impacted by economic
development activities. Nethods to evaluate these
resources' worth to society are necessary for public
decision-making, Methods such as the travel cost method
of estimating user-demand curves Clawson!, hypothetical
market valuation, and simulated market valuation have
been proposed as suitable methods to estimate social
value, However, in the case of tbe Northwest Hawaiian
Zslands, these methods do not appear to be appropriate
and a decision-analysis method is used instead.
Regardless of the method chosen, the need to take
into account impacts other than those reflected in the
marketplace has been the primary justification for the
field of planning Moore! . Xn order to aid decision-
making, problems such as these break down into "two
subissues: ! exactly what a given public action does
accomplish and ! whether it is really desirable
... and! requires the analyst to find out through
research what, the groups at interest are, and how they
will be affected" Neidinger and Schnaiberg p. 509! .
This study is an attempt. to aid policy decision-making
for tbe Northwest Hawaiian islands by addressing the two
subissues of the problem. Xt may also provide insight
into the policy-making process and contribute to future
research in this area.
information to decision-makers who must make choices
among development and management. alternatives for the
Northwest Hawaiian Tslands which would maximize society's
welfare. This will be accomplished by estimating the
impacts on the fisheries and wildlife species of various
proposed development alternatives and estimating
decision-makers' valuations and trade-offs between
development benefits and preservation benefits. The
second objective of the study is to describe and analyze
the behavior of public decision-makers in making choices.
To accomplish the objectives of the study, the
following set of procedures were followed:
l. Create an information base for use by decision-
makers regarding the attributes of various
alternatives' outcomes of fishery development.
2. Model the decision-making process of the
individual decision-makers involved in the study.
3. Determine the utility weights of the attributes
of the alternatives' outcomes.
hold either fishery development goals or wildlife
preservation goals either by mandate or personal
interest.
1.3
not been the subject of research and investigation until
recently. Xn 1978 the National Marine Fisheries of the
U.S. Department of Commerce, the Department of Land and
Natuxal Resources of the State of Hawaii, and the Fish
and Nildlife Service of the U.S. Department of Interior
entered a S-year cooperative agreement the Tripartite
Cooperative Agreement! to conduct research regarding the
biological resources in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands
which would provide a "foundation upon which to base
management decisions concerning long-range uses and
preservation of these living resources" " Survey and
Assessment of the Living Resources of the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands: A Tripaxtite Cooperative Agreement", p,
l! . One of the objectives of the study is to assess the
impact of pxoposed commercial and recreational fishing
activities on the fishery and other wildlife of the area
and to "provide whatever other information may be
pertinent to a rational determination of the desirability
or nondesixability of permitting commercial and
recxeational fishing in waters surrounding the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands" p. l! . This study is
part of the Tripartite set of studies and the author
hopes that it will fulfill this objective.
A model of how public decisions are made in the
political arena has been proposed by the field of
political science. Models of decision-making by
individuals and groups have been constructed by the
fields of economics and psychology. By integrating these
models, this study will attempt to determine the
feasibility of using the decision analysis approach in
the field of public decision-making for resource
allocation and provide some insight into the process for
future researchex's.
~ I'L tJ
This overview includes a description of the axea, its
history and the alternatives which have recently been
proposed to manage and develop the fisheries and wildlife
of the area. The decision analysis method used by the
study and the analytical framework drawn from the
litexature of decision-making and policy-making is
presented in the third chapter. A discussion of the set
of procedures used in the study is also included in this
chapter. The results of the analysis and their implica-
tions for policy are presented in Chapter XV. Chapter V
includes a summary of the study and the final conclusions
regarding the decision analysis approach and its
usefulness to the analysis of the Northwest Hawaiian
3:slands' problem and other problems which may be simi3.ar
in pub3.ic po3.icy-making.
the Hawaiian Xsland chain. They extend northwest from
the eight major Hawaiian Islands Figure 1! approximately
l200 miles into the Pacific, This area presents the
largest potential for fishery expansion and development
for the State of Hawaii. Xt also presents special
problems since the area contains a national wildlife
refuge and is the home of turtles, seals, and millions of
land and seabirds, which include six species protected
under federal law as "endangered" or "threatened".
Xt is believed that ancient Hawaiians lived on Nihoa
and Necker; however, at. the time of Captain Cook' s
arrival in l778, except for references to Niboa in chants
arid legends, native Hawaiians were not aware of the
Northwest Hawaiian Xslands Emory! . Until the 1800's,
the northwestern segment of the Hawaiian Archipelago
remained unexploited and uninhabited. But during the
1800's and early l900's numerous expeditions took place
to this area for the commercially valuable green turtles,
seabirds, monk seals, sharks, and shellfish Balazs!.
Guano was mined over about a 20-year period beginning in
'a
a
the early 1900's at Pearl and Hermes Reef. Both the
land-based guano resource and the oyster resource is
considered to be economically depleted at present.
Rabbits, introduced by guano diggers, ate much of the
islands' protective vegetation and thousands of seabirds
were destroyed in the resulting sandstorms or were killed
for their plumage.
Due to the destruction of native bird colonies by the
plumage industry, in 1909, all of the Northwest Hawaiian
Xslands except for Midway were declared a United States
of America preserve for native birds. Xn 1936 Kure was
removed from the pxeserve for military purposes and
later, in 1952, transferred ta the Territory of Hawaii.
So historically, the management of the major portion of
the Northwest Hawaiian islands has been under the
supervision of the Department of the Interior.
Xn 1942, Tern Xsland, one of thirteen named islands
composing French Frigate Shoals, was converted into an
airstrip to support naval operations during World War XX.
Except for a period of intermittent use between 1946 and
1952, the island was continuously inhabited by military
personnel until 1979 when the station was closed. The
U.S. Coast Guard had operated a LORAN-A station at Tern
Xsland since 1952. Operation of the LORAN station within
the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge had been
10
Coast Guard and the Pish and Nildlife Service which was
terminated in l979 when the station was dismantled.
22 ~ II
guano mining operations and the plumage industry. Xn
1940 under Presidential Proclamation the administration
of the reservation was transferred to the Fish and
Wildlife Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the name of
the area was officially changed to the "Hawaiian Xslands
National Wildlife Refuge." The refuge presently consists
of eight major land masses: 1! Nihoa Island; 2! Necker
Island~ 3! French Frigate Shoals; 4! Gardner Pinnaclesp
5! Naro Reef; 6! Laysan Xsland; 7! Lisianski Island; and
8! Pearl and Hermes Atoll.
Federal laws and regulations which affect the refuge
directly include: 1! the Research Natural Area
Designation of 1967 which designated the refuge as unique
island babitats for use as scientific research areasy 2!
the Nilderness Act of 1964 which requires the Secretary
of the Department. of the Interior to report on the status
of all federal lands that could be declared wilderness
areas; 3! the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
which requires all federal agencies to submit reports on
proposals for major federal actions which significantly
affect the quality of the environment; 4! the Narine
Nammal Protection Act of 1972 which imposes a moratorium
on the taking and importation of marine mammals~ 5! the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 which prohibits the taking
or harassment of any species declared as endangered; and
6! the Fishery Conservation and Nanagement Act of 1976
which extends the national fishery management,
jurisdiction from twelve to 200 miles with primary
objectives to reduce foreign harvesting of fishery
resources and to impose a management regime within the
area designated.
Fishery Conservation and Nanagement Act of 1976, the
Narine Hammal Protection Act of 1972, and the Endangered
Species Act of l973. The Fishery Conservation and
Nanagement, Act of 1976 FCNA! was basically a response to
the increased fishing pressure, both from domestic and
foreign sources, off the coasts of the United States.
The goals of the Congress as expressed in this act are to
conserve the fishery resources and at the same time, to
promote domestic commercial and recreational fishing
under sound conservation and management principles. The
policy of the Congress also expressed in this act is to
maintain the freedom of the seas for all purposes other
than. those conflicting with the conservation and
management of fishery resources as provided for in the
Act, to base conservation and management measures on the
best scientific information available, to permit fishing
within the Fishing Conservation Zone within 200 miles
from the territorial sea, which is defined as three miles
from the shore! by other nations if consistent with the
provisions of the Act, and to support and encourage
international cooperation in the conservation and
management of fishery resources.
Xn order to fulfill the goals of the FCÃA, Congress
has established eight Regional Fishery Management
Councils which are directed to prepare management plans
for each fishery within their geographic area of
authority, with the exception of the fisheries for highly
migratory tunas. The geographic area of authority for
the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
NPRFNC! is the "waters beyond a line coterminous with
the seaward boundaries of the State of Hawaii, the
Territories of American Samoa and Guam, and the several
Pacific island possessions of the U.B. of America, and
within a line drawn in such a manner that each paint on
it is 200 nautical miles from the baseline used to
l3
Western Pacific Fishery Management Council consists of
eleven voting members, including seven who are appointed
by the Secretary of Commerce who represent the expertise
and interest of the several constituent states in the
ocean area, over which the Council is granted authority.
There are also two non-voting members of the Council and
a scientific and statistical committee is established to
assist the Council in the "development, collection, and
evaluation of such statistical, biological, economic,
social and other scientific information as is relevant to
development and amendment of any fishery management plan"
Public Iaw 94-265, 1976! .
Plans for the precious coral and spiny lobster resources
have been approved and are being implemented. An
assessment of the bottomfish resources in the Western
Pacific has recently been published with plans to
undertake a Fishery Management Plan for this species in
the near future. Though the management plans address the
entire Pacific area under its authority, a large portion
of the fisheries resides within the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands. As a result, development af the Northwest
Hawaiian Xslands as a commercial fisheries area is of
large interest to the Council.
The two major federal policies which protect,
endangered and threatened species within the Wildlife
Refuge are tbe "Conservation and Protection of Marine
Mammals Act" Public Law 92-522! of 1972 and the
"Endangered Species Act" of 1973 Public Law 93-205! .
The Marine Mammal Protection Act protects the Hawaiian
Monk seal which has been recently placed on the
endangered list.. The major features of this act include:
1! a moratorium on the taking and importation of marine
mammals and marine mammal products; 2! the identification
of the goal that the incidental kill or incidental
serious injury of marine mammals permitted in the course
of commercial fishing operations be reduced to
insignificant levels approaching a zero mortality and
serious injury rate; 3! the delegation of authority to
the Secretary of the Treasury to ban the importation of
commercial fish or products from fish which have been
caught with commercial fishing technology which results
in tbe incidental kill or incidental injury of ocean
mammals in excess of U.S. standards; 4! except for
scientific research as provided by the Act, no permit may
be issued for the taking of any marine mammal as
belonging to an endangered species pursuant to the
Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969.
Responsibility for the administration and enforcement of
the Marine Mammal Protection Act is divided between the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is
presently operating under the Department of Commerce, for
the protection of whales and seals, and the Department of
the Interior for all other marine mammals.
The Endangered Species Act of l973 provides the means
where "ecosystems upon which endangered species and
threatened species depend may be conserved, to provide a
program for the conservation of such endangered species
and threatened species, and to take such steps as may be
appropriate to achieve the purposes of the treaties and
conventions of the following: l! the migratory bird
treaties with Canada and Mexico; 2! the migratory and
endangered bird treaty with Japan~ 3! the Convention on
Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the
Western Hemisphere; 4! the International Convention for
the Northwestern Atlantic fisheries; 5! the International
Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North
Pacific Ocean; and 6! the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora".
The term "endangered" is defined as any species which is
in danger of extinction and the term "threatened" means
any species which is likely to become an endangered
species within the foreseeable future. Thus, this Act
authorizes the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary
of Commerce to specify and determine any species as
endangered or threatened and their critical habitat which
may require special management consideration or
protection.
1 y 1 I hhh~
y I' h ~ ~" hh! '! h 'h
It"*h ~ 1 tt '!, h 1 11 h
htllhtll I ' hll h 11 I
'!, and the green sea turtle
M~LaaLa m~Nmaa-uaaxi! ~
conservation of the specified endangered and threatened
species and their habitats. The jurisdiction of these
acts are not only very large geographic areas as
mentioned through the international treaties but may also
be viewed as having considerable authority over the
economic sphere of the United States and specifically
over the development and management of the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands.
o1 1
the exception of the Midway Islands are legally part of
17
Natural Resources declares it unlawful to take, catch,
injure, kill, destroy, possess, transport, export,
process, sell or offer for sale any indigenous,
endangered or threatened wildlife. Wildlife is defined
as any animal not introduced and the Hawaiian Monk seal.
Permits involving these wildlife must be also obtained
from the Division of Wildlife and Forestry. Kure Atoll
is a state refuge area but is under the jurisdiction of
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National
Marine Fisheries Service for enforcement of the Narine
Mammal Protection and Endangered Species Acts,
Regulation of fishing is a responsibility of the
Department of Land and Natural Resources and permits are
issued to persons holding a valid State commercial
fishing license. However, fishing is restricted to
certain areas of the "Leeward Xs3.ands" which are defined
as those islands, reefs, and shoals of the Hawaiian
Island Chain beginning and including French Frigate
Shoals to and including Kore Island,
22 ~~C~ fE 11
Under statutes of the State, the City and County of
Honolulu is defined as including the island of Oahu and
l8
Midway Island.
Since 1867 the Midway Islands have been a possession
of the U.S. and are administered by the U.S. Navy. The
Navy maintains a "Naval Defense at Sea Area" which
includes an eight kilometer boundary of the islands and
entry by civilians is prohibited unless authorized by the
Secretary of the Navy.
2.3 !'ll! ' ~ ~ ! IU!PRL1E! th
Kost af the fishing activity which is taking place
presently in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands is being
undertaken by fishermen who resicke outside of the state
of Hawaii. The coral resource is being harvested by the
Japanese and Taiwanese fleet, and in 1981, 284 metric
tons of precious coral was harvested from the Midway
area, representing 94% of the world's production Grigg
1982b! . However, in 1982, with a glut of precious coral
on the international market and recessionary conditions
worldwide, production of coral Nidway dropped to only 84
metric tons representing approximately 85% of the world
production Grigg, 1982b!. The coral industry worldwide
has grown tremendously within the last ten to fiftee~
years. In l970 when the discovery of precious coral in
the Nilwaukee Banks and Emperor Seamounts northwest of
Nidway Island was first made, the global landings were
then valued between five and ten million dollars. Xn
l980, the landings of precious coral in Taiwan and Japan
which included the precious coral harvested from the
Nidway grounds! were valued at a total of approximately
forty million dollars Grigg, l98la! .
The armorhead and alfonsin resource which is
estimated to be the largest resource in the Northwest
Hawaiian Islands in terms of absolute weight potential is
being harvested only by foreign fishermen .the Soviets,
Japanese, Koreans, and Taiwanese. In 1977 the Nationa3.
Marine Fisheries Service began to implement the
Preliminary Fishery Nanagement Plan which regulates
foreign fishing on the Hancock Seamounts which are inside
the Fishery Conservation Zone, In recent years Japan and
Taiwan have each been allocated 1,000 metric tons of this
resource, However, the Japanese allocation has never
been fully taken,.and the Soviet and Taiwanese vessels
are not known to have fished inside the Fishery
Conservation Zone since l977 NPRFNC, 1983d!.
Of the twenty to thirty American boats that
participated in the summer albacore fishery north of
Nidway, approximately 80% of the boats are from
20
from l979 when the State of Hawaii provided a fishery
base on Midway Island see section "2.34 The Midway
Experience"! and it is estimated that even without the
Midway fishing facility, the albacore fleet has harvested
a maximum of six million pounds of albacore in one
season. Some of the albacore catch is off-loaded in
Honolulu, but a large proportion of the catch has been
sold at. Dutch Harbor or San Diego in recent years. Xn
the l982 legislative session, $200,000 was appropriated
for the planning and design of a fishery facility at
Midway. The establishme~t of such a facility on a
permanent basis is anticipated to expand this fishery and
allow most of the catch to be transhipped to the Honolulu
tuna cannery.
Hawaiian Xslands on a regular basis. Of these five
boats, two are concentrating only on the spiny lobster
resource and the other three boats have been fishing a
combination of albacore, spiny lobster, and bottomfish
Bartram, l983, personal communication!. Xn terms of the
spiny lobster catch, vessels have increasingly utilized
on-board processing to enter the international market for
frozen lobster tails. Participation in this fishery has
been limited due to the distance from port Honolulu! to
the fishing grounds 00 to 1200 miles each way! .
However, this fishery has grow~ from a production of
72,000 pounds valued at $208,800 in 1977 to 200,000 to
400,000 lobsters worth $680,000 to $l>360,000 in 1980
WPRFHC, l98lc! .
snapper-grouper-jack complex! does not appear to be
uniformly distributed throughout the Northwest Hawaiian
Xslands. Though there are some areas in the northern
parts of the islands which are almost completely
unexploited, the region between Gardner Pinnacles and
Nihoa have been noticeably affected by fishing pressure
Uchida!, Xt i estimated that 76,000 pounds of
bottomfish were caught in the Northwest Hawaiian Xslands
in 1981. The market for bottomfish is the fresh market
and "long travel times to Honolulu and the limited life
of iced fish have placed a functional limit on commercial
bottomfishing in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands" WpRFNC,
1983d, p. ll7! . Although bottomfishing has not proven to
be the economic boon to fishermen locally as had
previously been anticipated, with innovative programs for
marketing, it is hoped that this resource will prove to
be valuable to the Hawaiian fishing industry in the
future.
M
fisheries resolutions. The most significant resolution
was HR l22 which authorized the State Department of land
and Natural Resources to develop the Hawaii Fisheries
Development. Plan which was published in l979. Table l
lists the major categories of commercially valuable fish
species which were considered by the Plan and their
estimated addit.ional resource potential from the
exploitation of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
As noted earlier, the Western Pacific Regional
Fisheries Nanagement Council has prepared Fishery
management Plans for precious corals, spiny lobsters, and
billfish and a biological assessment for the bottomfish
resource, Table 2 presents the Council's estimates of
the maximum sustainable yields for these species. When
this study began, the only information available
regarding the resources in the Northwest Hawaiian Xslands
was the information included in the Fishery Development
Plan and the spiny lobster maximum sustainable yield
estimates which had been proposed in the final draft for
the spiny lobster fishery management plan.
Presently, the Department of Planning and Economic
Development, State of Hawaii, is preparing an Ocean
Nanagement Plan. Two workshops were held in l982 for
23
Table l. Present Landing 978! and Potential Sustainable Yields in the Hawaii Region weight in
thousands of pounds!
Skipjack tuna 20,000 26.76,794
1 In millions of pounds.
Source: Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaii. 1979, "Hawaii Fisheries Development: Plan", p. 42.
Bigeye tuna
Yellowfin tuna
Seamount groundfish
Spiny Lobster
Estimated Maximum Sustainable
1. Precious Coral
2. Spiny Lobster
166t980t000
283,000-739,000
115,720,000
5 Source: Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council, 1983d. Assessment of the Bottomfish Fisheries of the Nestern Pacific Region, p.153.
1 Based on a total of 1,000 kilograms for the Exploratory Area around Hawaii and the anuual quota formulas which are proposed for the "conditional beds" of WesPac, Brooks Bank, and 180 Fathom Bank Federal Register. September 15 1980. "Precious Corals Fishery; Proposed Regulations", 45:180> p. 60966 and p. 60976!.
2 Based on an estimate of 200,000-378,000 lobsters per year and assuming a whole body weight of one pound per lobster Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council. 198lc. Final Combined Fishery Management Plan, Environmental Impact Statement, Regulatory Analysis and Draft Regulations for the Spiny Lobster Fisheries of the Nestern Pacific Region, p.56!.
This is a Pacific-vide estimate Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council. 198lb. Final Fishery Management Plan for Pacific Billfish Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region, p.26!.
Source: Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council. 1983d. Assessment of the Bottomfish Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region, p.150.
public agencies and private persons to participate and
have input into the plan. The Ocean Management Plan will
be addressing thirteen areas of concern. However, two
areas which involve the Northwest Hawaiian Xslands are
the areas of: l! marine conservation and preservation;
and 2! fisheries development. The plan is scheduled to
be completed by the end of 1983.
2.33K ~ZL''1
Xn the 198l Legislative session, House Bill Number
534, "Making an Appropriation for Refurbishing a Support
Vessel s! for Outlying Fisheries Bases", was introduced.
The purpose of this act was to refurbish a surplus navy
vessel for use as a support station for outlying
fisheries, However only one dollar was appropriated for
this purpose and so no further action has been taken to
implement this bill.
Xn l979 the State of Hawaii entered into a formal
agreement with the Department of the Navy for the use of
Midway Xsland for a period of one year to assist the
albacore fleet. The major provisions of the agreement
included: l! the albacore fleet would be limited t.o
twenty catcher vessels and one supply ship; 2! the
project must be self-sufficient -- all fuel, water, and
supplies must be provided by the mothership; 3! the Navy
would provide emergency services, such as medivac and
parts shipment via NAC; and 4! all fleet operational
considerations within Midway atoll, such as mooring sites
and shore access, would be at the discretion of the Base
Commander.
and Natural Resources, assumed a role of intermediary
between the Navy and the U,S. fishing industry. The
State awarded the operational contract. to Hawaiian Tuna
Packers for that year who selected 20 catcher vessels
from among 58 applicants and arranged for a charter of a
l000 ton purse seiner Vincent Gann! as the supply ship.
Prior to the start of the project all fishermen and
crew underwent Navy security checks. However, during the
time of operation, the Midway Base Commander in
accordance with discretion provided in the Facilities Use
Permit! refused to allow the fisher'men and the supply
ship's crew ashore except for medical emergencies. The
mothership and catcher vessels were required to moor in
the lagoon rather than using the inner harbor.
Though only twenty vessels were contracted for this
period, six additional boats joined the fleet for varying
amounts of time fox a total of 26 vessels in the fleet.
Of the 26 vessels, six were Honolulu-based boats. The
vessels were standard West coast style trolling vessels
27
tons of frozen albacore. The total catch for the entire
season April through September! was approximately 2000
tons with 1750 tons delivered to the Hawaiian Tuna
Packers' cannery in Honolulu and the remaining 250 tons
landed at Rest Coast ports. The average seasonal catch
per vessel was approximately 77 tons.
The mothership, the Vincent Gann, made a total of
three runs from Honolulu to Midway, delivering l500 tons
of fish to Honolulu. The exvessel price paid to the
fishermen was set at the l979 West Coast contract price
of $1320/ton less transhipment fees of $150/ton. The
remaining 500 tons were delivered direct to their ports,
grossing $1320/ton for the fishermen.
In December 1979 the State of Hawaii requested an
extension of the use permit with modifications to relieve
problems which had been encountered during the summer
season. However, this request was rejected by the
Department of the Navy and Midway Island has not been
used for a fishing facility since this initial project.
2.35 ~ ~ Lu.'Lard ~<~" ~ ~ J~L
contracted the Manta Corporation to evaluate various
management options for Tern Island due to the then
28
and Wildlife Service and the U.B. Coast Guard Manta
Corporation considered basically four management
alternatives: "l. Conversion of the existing
facility...to a research station administered by the Pish
and Wildlife Service...; 2. A similar station to 1
operated by another agency or jointly with Fish and
Wildlife Service...; 3. Use! of existing facility...to
be used as a commercial fishery support station...p 4.
modification or abandonment of existing facility to
achieve maximum indigenous wildlife use" p. 25! . Eight
different types of fishery support stations were
investigated in the study. These included a facility
for: 1! an inshore fishery; 2! a trap fishery> 3! an ahi,
bottomfish, and groundfish fishery; 4! an aku fishery; 5!
an albacore fishery; 6! a sport fishery; 7! an aquarium
fishery; and S! a precious coral fishery. The study
concluded that the use of the Tern Island facility as a
fishery support station would impact the environment with
the most intensity relative to the other management
alternatives.
boundary controversy began in l972 when the Department of
Interior began preparing its proposal fox the Refuge to
be declared a wildex'ness area under the Wilderness Act of
1964. At that, time, the Department of the Interior
pxoposed that appxoximately l800 acres of land above the
line of mean high tide and 302,400 acres of submerged
lands be included as "wilderness". The Fish and Ni3.d3.ife
Service maintained then and to the present that the
refuge boundary includes submerqed lands and waters as
well as the emergent lands within the following
boundaries:
occur on the reef, a line drawn from headland to
headland;
and Lisianski Xsland -- the boundary is the low,
low water mark;
face of the fringing reef and, where breaks occur
in the reef, a line Drawn from headland to
headland;
from headland to headland; here referring to the
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Suxvey map. Naro Reef
has only one rock that protrudes about two feet
above water and there is no clearly defined
30
The Fish and Wildlife Service maintains that the loss
of control over the submerged waters at. French Frigate
Shoals, Naro Reef, and Pearl and Hermes Reef, as well as
those waters within the external fringing reef at Laysan
Island, could have an extremely severe impact on the
wildlife resources of the area since this would in
essence, break up ecological units and disrupt an entire
unique ecosystem.
The State of Hawaii has maintained that only the
"fast lands" lying above the upper reaches of the wash of
waves or the upper line of debris left by the wash of
waves, are included in the Hawaiian Islands National
Wildlife Refuge and all lands below this line, including
submerged lands, fall under the jurisdiction of the State
of Hawaii. In a 1973 memorandum of agreement proposed by
the then acting governor, George R. Ariyoshi, the State
of Hawaii agreed to the boundaries of the refuge as noted
above but only with the inclusion of both a reservation
by the State of Hawaii of any fishing, mineral, and other
rights and a provision with regard to a cooperative
agreement concerning the management of the fishery
resources. The Fish and Wildlife Service did not. accept
the agreement and has exercised control over the
submerged lands and waters throughout the years until the
present time.
This study does not attempt to resolve this issue and
for purposes of the study, it is assumed that the Fish
and Wildlife Service's claim is the boundary of the
Refuge.
H4MD'L4Ul 5QGk ~
identified habitat requirements of the Hawaiian Monk Seal
and proposed a Critical Habitat designation under the
authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, The
essential habitat requirements for the Hawaiian Monk Seal
was identified to include pupping and hauling beaches,
shallow, reef-protected lagoo~ waters adjacent to these
beaches, and the deeper inner reef waters, lagoon waters
and all other surrounding water areas to a depth of ten
to twenty fathoms.
and ocean waters out to a specified distance or depth
offshore around Kure Atoll, Midway Xslands except Sand
Island!, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Kisianski Island, Laysan
Xsland French Frigate Shoals, and Necker Xsland be
designated critical habitat. Three options were
considered which included: l! the beach and lagoon
waters plus the waters out to the ten fathom isobath on
the seaward side of the barrier reef around the islands
specified; 2! the beach and lagoon waters plus the
waters out to the twenty fathom isobath on the seaward
side of the barrier reef around the islands specifiedi
and 3! the beach and lagoon waters plus the waters out to
three nautical miles around the islands ar barrier reefs
of the atolls specified above. The purpose of the
designation of the critical habitat was intended to
maintain rather than to utilize the monk seal resource
and though this action would have no unavoidable adverse
environmental impacts, it would add increased work to the
planning and implementation of activities by Federal
agencies by requiring them to consider the habitat needs
of the Hawaiian monk seal relative to their actions.
The final designation of the critical habitat for the
Hawaiian monk seal has been tabled until the research
projects supported by the Tripartite Agreement are
completed. Xt is anticipated that these studies will
provide information which will assist in determining
which of the habitat proposals should be undertaken. The
projected date of completion for all the research under
the Tripartite Agreement is December, l983, so the
designation of the critical habitat should be made
shortly after that time.
Xn Table 3, a matrix of development/management
options that are based on previously noted proposals
which are available to public decision-makers is
presented. The "No Development Faci3.ity" and the
"Shoreline" regime which is the Fish and Wildlife
Service Boundary as described in Section 2,41! is also
included in this tab3.e. This is the status quo
alternative which is operating pr*sent3.y in the area and
its continuance is also a, viable alternative for pub3.ic
decisi,on-makers.
For the purposes of this study, three of the sixteen
available options were excluded. These three options
were: 1! the Midway Facility/Fish and Wildlife Service
Boundary; 2! the Midway Faci3.ity/Ten Fathom Boundary; and
3! the Midway Facility/Twenty Fathom Boundary. The
Midway Facility was assumed to be an albacore fishing
faci3.ity and since the albacore fishery is located
approximately 500 to 1,000 miles north of Midway, it was
assumed that the catcher vessels utilizing this facility
would not be fishing closer to the Refuge than three
miles. So it was decided that the the most appropriate
Midway option would be the Midway Facility/Three Nile
Boundary and the difference between the No Development
Facility options and the Midway options would be due to
34
estimated with the Three Mile Boundary.
36