State of Hawaii Protected Species Program

Recreational fishing pressure in Hawaii is significant and the capture of green (and hawksbill) turtles in local, near shore, state managed fisheries has increased since it first became noticed as a management concern during the 1990s (Nitta and Henderson 1993; Chaloupka et al. 2008)

The State of Hawaii is actively engaged together with NMFS partners to understand, quantify, reduce and mitigate recreational fishery impacts (e.g., development and distribution of barbless circle hooks) with future plans to submit an ESA section 10 application for an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) and development of a Habitat Conservation Plan that will be the basis of their Marine Protected Species program. Via the NMFS Section 6 program, the State receives funding to assess, mitigate and reduce impacts to turtles from nearshore State managed fisheries, and bolster the State?s overall Protected Species Program.

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center(PIFSC), Protected Resouces Division(PRD), Pacific Islands Fisheries Center(PIFSC) Marine Turtle Ecology and Assessment Program, United States Fish and Wild Life Services (USFWS), State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR)

Lead funding agency: NMFS Section 6 program