102
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
  REQUESTING THE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE TO CLOSE THE
    NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS LOBSTER FISHERY TO PROTECT
    THE ENDANGERED HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL.
 


 1        WHEREAS, the Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most
 2   endangered marine mammals on earth and is found only in the
 3   Hawaiian Islands; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, the Hawaiian monk seal is the only marine mammal
 6   that lives its entire life in the Hawaiian Islands; and
 7   
 8        WHEREAS, the Hawaiian monk seal, its ancient name being
 9   'Ilioholoikauaua, is the kinolau (physical essence) of the
10   Hawaiian god, Kanaloa, and an 'aumakua (personal god) to the
11   Kanaka maoli indigenous people of Hawaii today; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, there are only about 1,300 to 1,400 Hawaiian monk
14   seals left on earth; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, the largest Hawaiian monk seal breeding
17   population at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern
18   Hawaiian Islands has declined by fifty-five per cent in the
19   last decade primarily because juvenile seals are starving to
20   death; and 
21   
22        WHEREAS, lobster is an important food item for the
23   Hawaiian monk seal; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, as a result of overfishing in the Northwestern
26   Hawaiian Islands in the 1980s, lobster stocks have declined
27   significantly, leaving insufficient food for the Hawaiian monk
28   seal; and
29   
30        WHEREAS, the Marine Mammal Commission, the Hawaiian Monk
31   Seal Recovery Team, and the Fishery Rights of Indigenous People
32   Advisory Panel to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery
33   Management Council have all called for the closure of the
34   Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lobster fishery to help prevent
35   the Hawaiian monk seal from going extinct; now, therefore,
36   

 
Page 2                                                     102
                                  H.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        


 1        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
 2   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
 3   of 2000, the Senate concurring, that the National Marine
 4   Fisheries Service is requested to close the Northwestern
 5   Hawaiian Islands lobster fishery for at least three years, as
 6   recommended by the Hawaiian monk seal experts, so that this
 7   critically endangered marine mammal is given every opportunity
 8   to survive for future generations to know and enjoy; and
 9   
10        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
11   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Secretary of the
12   United States Department of Commerce, the Assistant
13   Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the
14   Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, the
15   Pacific Islands Ecoregion Manager of the United States Fish and
16   Wildlife Service, the Governor, the Chairperson of the Board of
17   Land and Natural Resources, and the Chairperson of the Board of
18   Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
19 
20 
21 
22                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________