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Submitted by: J. Scott Waddington Owner of Ho'omaluo LLC. I am a Biologist that works with a number of State, Federal and private land owners/entities dealing mostly with endangered water birds here in West Hawaii. I have worked with Cyanotech for more than 19 years and now currently work with them as an independent contractor as part of their habitat conservation plan (HCP) and incidental take permit (ITP) requirements. I have worked at Kealakehe waste water treatment plant for more than 16 years conducting water bird surveys and trapping services when funding is available. I have been working as the Biologist on the current sludge removal and aeration upgrade project. As part of Cyanotech's agreement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the state of Hawaii's Department of Fish and Wildlife (DOFAW) in regards to their(ITP)for endangered Hawaiian Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni), Cyanotech proposes the following off site mitigation.The best option is to work with the County of Hawaii and conduct predator control at the Kealakehe waste water treatment plant here in Kona (four miles south of Cyanotech). The treatment plant is a 12 acre facility that attracts approximately 75-80%of all water birds found in West Hawaii. There are nesting endangered Hawaiian stilts and Hawaiian Coots (Fulica alai) as well as Least Terns (Sternula antillarum) at the facility. Mitigation at the treatment plant would be comprised of a three pronged approach to remove predators such as Mongooses (Herpestes javanicus) and feral cats (Felis catus). It is proposed to place 10 Doc-250 lethal traps around the interior fence line of the facility at an average spacing of 150 meters. The proposed locations of the traps as illustrated below are at the intersections of the road ways within the facility. • c A d ...k � '' • '�V..' • • '� -, The traps will be mounted inside of plywood boxes built to the manufactures specifications. The traps being mounted inside the boxes keeps any animal caught out of view and does not allow for the trap to be tampered with. Over the past number of years, predator control efforts at the treatment plant (funded by DOFAW)the catch ratio has been 31.4 mongooses to each cat. The cats that have been trapped appear to most likely be abandoned pets. Most seemed well fed and relatively tame. The mongooses caught were taken to the Hawaii Humane Society and euthanized. The cats caught were also taken to the Humane Society and were euthanized if they were deemed unadoptable. The second part of the predator control will be to deploy Hay-A-Heart live traps to catch any cats when and if they are observed or signs of their presence is noted. The trapped cats as in the past will be taken to the Humane Society.