2018-11-13 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes 2

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – October 24, 2016 EC: So when I look at it – I think one of the key things that I think is important is having a manager weigh what is the best technique – there may be situations that a manager might choose to do that – but I also think that there are other tools that may be as good or may be better for certain situations so I – but I do think that the dry conditions that occurred on Lehua – there would be wetter conditions in forest – here – so, you know, obviously there are gonna be differences if somebody were to do a broadcast application. NP: I was curious – how much of your, um, decision making is based on your finding from, ah, Mokapu and, ah, Lehua Island experiments. EC: Um... Actually, there – I think the experiences – because both of those things are, are, I think, management actions where people learned lessons where things went well or didn’t, I think that’s an important thing is people learn things – those are gonna be incorporated in it, but I think a lot of the things that are going to be in it are, are the results of studies that people have done where we look at the answer – assuming people are going to be concerned and with the comments we’ve got on what is the risk to game or what is the risk to non-targets and one of the key things over time that people have done is try to collect the data to answer those questions – so that’s the type of thing that will be in the documentation because I think it’s important for managers and the public to know that. TL: I do – I do have just one on the game \[unclear\]. How much emphasis do you give our game animals or game birds when you look at the impact to a non-targeted species – which is something that, ah, Mr. Singer had brought up when he came forward this evening? EC: I think there’s a very heavy emphasis on it, um, in looking at the past work that’s been done because there are questions and I think they’re absolutely appropriate on, you know, if something’s put in the environment – what is the impact to people that are taking game from, from the environment so there’s been background work done on, you know, what is the uptake to pigs, what, how much is carried in pigs, you know, where would the – what risk is posed, so that’s a key thing that people have been trying to look at the question of, you know, what is risk and I think the key thing that’s important is that, that information is out because that allows a manager to make the decision, again, it’s gonna be up to the individual manager of what they’re gonna do but I think they need to know the pros and cons of what choices they might be doing in an individual situation – but there has been a fair bit of information collected on that. TL: The question that I have in that regard is, you know, does the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, you know, value the game that we have here? 14