Bill Text: HI HB309 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Fishponds.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-05 - The committee on HED recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 11 Ayes: Representative(s) Garrett, Amato, Evslin, Kapela, Kila, La Chica, Olds, Sayama, Woodson, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none. [HB309 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2025-HB309-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
309 |
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THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING to fishponds.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that before Western contact, researchers estimate that there were approximately four hundred eighty-eight loko iʻa (fishponds) in Hawaii. An inventory conducted in 1901 found around three hundred sixty loko iʻa across the State, with about ninety-nine of them in active use at the time.
Over the past two centuries, a range of factors, including changes in economic and social systems, land use and development, tsunamis, sedimentation, climate change, and the introduction of invasive species, have impacted loko iʻa to varying degrees. While some loko iʻa remain relatively intact, others have fallen into disrepair, are in ruins, or have been destroyed to make way for development.
In recent years, a statewide movement to restore and revitalize fishponds has gained momentum, with around forty-nine fishponds currently managed by local community organizations and kiaʻi loko (fishpond guardians).
Loko iʻa are not only essential for preserving traditional native Hawaiian culture and practices, but also play a vital role in enhancing the State's ecological well-being and offer opportunities to protect cultural resources and expand food security and community-based resource management.
Many fishponds in Hawaii are publicly owned. However, no comprehensive database exists to inventory these fishponds, assess their conditions, or evaluate their potential for restoration. To fulfill its responsibility as a steward of the ʻāina and ensure that future generations can benefit from the opportunities fishponds provide, the legislature believes that the State must have more complete data on these important resources and deems this Act to be a law of statewide concern.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish a working group within the university of Hawaii sea grant program to develop an inventory of state-owned fishponds.
SECTION 2. (a) There is established within the university of Hawaii sea grant college program a fishpond inventory working group for administrative purposes.
(b) The working group shall create an inventory of all state-owned fishponds that includes the following information for each fishpond:
(1) The traditional name;
(2) The type or style;
(3) The approximate acreage, including submerged lands within the fishpond;
(4) The tax map key, if available;
(5) An analysis of the current and historical condition, including sites in ruin or destroyed;
(6) Historical uses and permits associated with the fishpond;
(7) The surrounding land uses; and
(8) Any other relevant data as determined by the working group.
(c) The working group shall create:
(1) A map of all state-owned fishponds; and
(2) A literature review that includes any relevant sources used for collecting the inventory data.
(d) The working group shall consist of:
(1) The director of the university of Hawaii sea grant college program, or the director's designee, who shall serve as the chair of the working group;
(2) The administrator of the office of conservation and coastal lands of the department of land and natural resources, or the administrator's designee; and
(3) The administrator of the land division of the department of land and natural resources, or the administrator's designee.
(e) The chair of the working group shall invite the following individuals to serve as members of the working group:
(1) One representative from Hui Mālama Loko Iʻa; and
(2) Others as invited by the chair.
(f) Members of the working group shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties.
(g) The working group shall submit an interim report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than November 1, 2026.
(h) The working group shall submit a final report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than November 1, 2027.
(i) The working group shall be dissolved on June 30, 2028.
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $250,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 to create an inventory of all state-owned fishponds.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the university of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
UH; Fishponds; Working Group; Inventory; Appropriation
Description:
Establishes a fishpond inventory working group within the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program to create an inventory and map of all state-owned fishponds and conduct a literature review. Appropriates funds.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
