Maui residents can now share their opinions on a new plan for managing coastal waters. The plan, created by the community’s "Maui Navigation Team" and the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources, aims to protect Maui’s reefs and marine life for the future. "We are inviting Maui residents to join the conversation and provide feedback on a draft proposal with the goal to strengthen effective management of Maui’s nearshore waters, ensuring healthy reefs and abundant resources for future generations," DAR Administrator Brian Neilson commented, as reported by Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Beginning in October 2022, the Maui Navigation Team, comprised of fishers, community leaders, and scientists, began crafting the management plan based on local know-how and a series of community discussions on marine resource concerns. Their work addresses essential points such as creating sensible fishing regulations, enhancing enforcement mechanisms, and pondering new ways to increase compliance. Moreover, the team pegged the need to mitigate land-based threats to reefs, like pollution from injection wells, as critical to the initiative’s success.
During sessions aimed at creating the management proposal, the Navigation Team delved into place-based planning and pono practices, pivotal elements of the responsible stewardship of the islands' marine resources. Monitoring and restoration efforts were also key pillars in the drafting of recommendations. "The team worked through each of the Holomua Marine Initiative’s four pillars: place-based planning, pono practices, monitoring and restoration," according to an official statement on the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Three information exchange sessions will be hosted by DAL and the Maui Navigation Team to offer outlines of their recommendations and to gather public feedback. Interested parties can attend these meetings in Hāna on September 24, in Lahaina on September 25, and in Kahului on September 26.
