Innholdsfortegnelse for November 1991 i Hawaii Fishing News

■ Bishop Museum is seeking volunteers to be “Special Exhibit Guides” for its exciting new exhibit, “SHARKS! Fact and Fantasy,” October 19 through January 10, in the Castle Memorial Building. Volunteers are needed to help visitors learn the facts and fallacies about sharks through demonstrations and informal talks. Three-hour volunteer shifts are available seven days a week. Training will be provided. No experience is necessary. Interested individuals are asked to call the Volunteer Office at 848-4180.…

■ The glow from the still hidden sun slowly spread from the horizon upward into the sky. The dark water was calm; the trade winds were temporarily buffered by the thermal equilibrium between land and sea. One-to 2-foot surf crunched over the rocky shallows at the mouth of the small stream emptying into the bay. Several hundred yards out in the bay, a patch of ocean about the size of a compact car appeared to be shimmering in the light morning glare slightly more than the surrounding area, insignificant to a casual observer, to me, the lone fisherman on shore, this was an indicator of a school of nervous bait fish. Perhaps this was a rare intrusion into shallow coastal waters by an akule school, apparently tightly bunched near the…

■ The ciguatera-toxin test kit to be made commercially available early next year will be different than the test kit with which Hawai‘i fishermen have become familiar. Although the commercial kit is still in the design and development phase, it already appears that it will include a plastic stick with a membrane rather than the wooden stick coated with white correction fluid as is now being used. Robert Goldsmith, president of Hawaii Chemtect International (HCI), which owns the ciguatera test-kit patent, said he expects the kit to be available the first quarter of 1992 and to retail in the 70-cent range, depending on the market. Goldsmith also said that the kit will be better than the presently used kit because it does not register false positives, that is it does…

■ Several Mauians have been affected by ciguatera fish poisoning after eating fish caught off Maui County coasts in recent weeks. Dr. Joseph Sobotka, Department of Health epidemiologist for Maui County, said that there have been nine confirmed cases reported this year in Maui County waters. These are cases where the fish was tested and proven positive for the ciguatoxin, and include three cases since the first of October. Those cases were caused by eating papio caught off Waiehu. More recent reports, not confirmed by testing of the fish, include two persons who became sick, one of whom saw a doctor…. Gordon Lopes and Terina Espinoza ate roi, or sea bass, caught off Spreckelsville…. Both suffered pain in their hands and legs, “like you walked 100 miles or something,” and…

■ Valerie Risso thought fishing with her husband, Bill, aboard their boat, the VALLYNN, would be a nice, quiet way to spend a few hours away from home. They cruised out to the U-buoy and caught a few small aku. Bill decided to “slide down and out” to see what else was out there. After about 20 minutes they saw a small rubbish pile surrounded by a sea of blue-green mahimahi; it was time to go to work. The fish were biting well, and in a short time Valerie and Bill had over 25 pieces of fish in their box. So much for the nice quiet ride, but what great fishing! The recent good weather really helped make fishing trips pleasant for many anglers no matter what they caught. Gerry…

■ With the upcoming Lahaina Jackpot Fishing Tournament near, the marlin bite took a dive. There were only 14 billfish boated during the entire month and two were tagged and released. All but one of the billfish were blue marlin. There was one big ‘ahi landed. In 1990 during the same month, 16 billfish were boated, and in 1989 30 billfish were landed during the same time period. Lahaina’s top marlin for the month was captured from aboard the REEL HOOKER. Capt. Fuzzy Al-boro and Co-capt. Howard Singer boated a 576-lb blue marlin for angler Bill Clark. They were off Manele Bay, Lana‘i, while on a high-speed troll to the K-buoy. Fuzzy slowed the REEL HOOKER down as Howard set out the lure pattern. Howard had the longrigger and the…

• Shark specialists are called elasmobranchologists. • Sharks may live 50 years or more. • Sharks can smell one once of fish blood in one million ounces of salt water. • Sharks vary in size from six inches to 60 feet. • Sharks may have four to 20 rows of teeth—some sharks have no teeth at all. • Sharks are known as ancient living fossils. They have ancestors dating Lack 400 million years. • Tiger sharks may shed up to 24,000 teeth in 10 years. • There are nearly one dozen species of hammerhead sharks. The largest grows over 18 feet and weighs over 1,000 pounds. • The white, also known as the great white, shark may grow up to 21 feet and weigh more than 6,000 pounds. A TriMet…

■ The federal Office of Management and Budget (0MB), which had hoped to raise boatloads of money with a new boat “user fee” tax, may need to rethink this unprecedented federal levy as it sinks deeper into a sea of controversy. With fiscal year 1991 now over, only $14.6 million of the $127 million the government had hoped to raise from 4.1 million boaters subject to the new tax has been collected. To make matters worse, the federal government’s targeting of already overtaxed boaters is beginning to rock local economies that rely on dollars spent by recreational boaters. Reports are being received from around the country that boaters who have not purchased their “user fee” tax decal are taking their boats out of the water early so as to avoid…

Howzit Chuck and fellow anglers, It was Monday, September 16, one of those choice, sunny days in Lanikai. My husband and I launched our 10½-foot Zodiac, caught a bait bucket full of ‘oama and started slow trolling. After a couple hours and few 1- to 2-lb ‘omilu, my husband hanapa‘a-ed a reel screamer. Unfortunately the 15-lb mainline got cut by the sharp coral on the initial run. But we quickly turned around and went back over the same area, and, sure enough, hanapa‘a. The line screamed out of my Penn 650SS. I knew this was one big and tricky fish. He was going in and out of every coral head he could find. But I loosened the drag and my husband drove closer to the fish. I couldn’t believe that…

■ Due to a fatal accident involving one of our good friends, Scot Minemoto and I decided to cancel this year’s ulua fishing trip with the Kolohe Kasting Klub. We decided instead to take the club members boat fishing on Scot’s boat. Only two brave fishermen from the club, Mark Isono and Ryan Otani, accepted our offer. They came to the Big Island on August 18, and that evening the four of us planned trolling trips for Monday and Wednesday. Mark and Ryan were excited to go out; this would be Mark’s first trip on a boat and Ryan’s first boat trip off Hilo. Ryan goes boat fishing with his friends on O‘ahu. Early Monday morning the four of us left the harbor and headed out to the G-buoy. The…

■ The sea was calmer than it had been in recent months, and, while most fishermen claim the fishing is better when it’s rougher, Keehi Boat Club members caught 2,530 lbs of fish during the month. Ed Nelson, a one-man fishing machine, had a total catch of 751 lbs, which included a 177-lb marlin, a 301b ‘ahi, a 38-lb ono, 128 lbs of mahimahi, 319 lbs of aku and 59 lbs of bottom fish. As you can see, Ed is a dedicated fisherman. Clifford Harrington also gives his all to fishing. Every week he hangs out where the fish are; he is one of the 10 percent who catches 90 percent of the fish. His September catch was awesome: three marlin weighing 199, 133 and 105 lbs; a 168-lb ‘ahi;…

Marlin Center Catch Report Due to the limited apace available and the large number of fish caught, catch reports are limited to tuna over 100 lbs and billfish of any size, any species. (S) a Striped marlin, (B) = Black marlin and (T) = Tag and release, weight estimated. Marlina Seafood Catch Report Due to the limited space available and the large number of fish caught, catch reports are limited to tuna over 100 lbs and billflah of any ate, any species. (S) = Striped marlin, (B) = Black marlin and (7) = Tag and release, weight estimated.…

■ The word “shark” never fails to conjure up thoughts of fear and danger. After all, sharks have long been perceived as man’s greatest underwater enemy. But, as a matter of fact, a person has a much greater chance of being killed by lightning, by a bee sting, or by falling airplane parts than by a shark attack. An exhibit, which opened October 19 at the Bishop Museum, aims to set the record straight. “SHARKS! Fact and Fantasy” intends to separate truth from fiction while providing visitors an entertaining education of what it really means to be a shark. “SHARKS! Fact and Fantasy” is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition about sharks ever mounted and is organized by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County with funding from the…

■ As I mentioned last month, there’s an organized effort by the longliners and some producers to allow longliners to come back inside and fish around our FADs, ledges and banks. They are a lot more organized now than ever before, and, at an Oct. 14 meeting with members of the Western Regional Fisheries Management Council (WESPAC), more than 100 persons protested the area closures. The council members heard only the longliners’ side of the story. There was no objectivity or the opportunity for local fishermen to respond. When I had been told about this meeting, I had called WESPAC for the date and time and was told the meeting was not going to be held because they couldn’t get all the council members together. Six days later I was…

■ Major new safety regulations for commercial fishing vessels became effective 15 September. Others will become effective in November, and additional regulations will become effective over the next couple years. These regulations culminate legislative and regulatory efforts spanning the last two decades. In general, the most recent regulations require that all commercial fishing vessels have Type I Personal Floatation Devices, ring buoys, distress signals and some sort of survival craft if operating beyond the three-mile offshore boundary line. These new regulations are in addition to an earlier requirement, which went into effect in May 1990, requiring fishing vessels to carry an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, or EPIRB. Fishing vessel operators are strongly encouraged to become familiar with these new regulations and their specific requirements for various vessels. For example,…

■ The longliners are coming! The longliners are coming! Boy, just when you thought it was safe to get back into the water…Just about a year ago the longliners were telling us that they didn’t need to fish inside of 75 miles around O‘ahu and Kaua‘i. WESPAC agreed with the local trailers and handliners that, due to gear conflicts between longliners and trailers, there was a reel need for a buffer zone. WESPAC passed two temporary emergency regulations providing for this buffer zone. The buffer zone around O‘ahu and Kaua‘i is 75 miles, and around Maui County and Hawai‘i County it is 50 miles. WESPAC also intended for this buffer zone to become a permanent part of the Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) in December of this year. Now the longliners…

Dear HFN, Please find enclosed a letter that we, several of the various fishing interests here on the Big Island, have written to make our state officials aware of our feelings toward new harbor development and the potential negative impact that it may impose upon our fisheries. We are presently collecting signatures of support and will then mail the letter, with attached signatures, to the various agencies involved. Thank you. Sincerely,John M. Kerr IIIKamuela, Hawai‘i An Open Letter to Our State Officials Dear Sirs: We believe that everybody has the right to own a boat and use it for fishing, diving or cruising. That fact is indisputable and one driving force behind new marina development. But, our fishing resources are fixed in quantity; they are exhaustible; we have the right…