2024_06_18 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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June 18, 2024 - GMAC Minutes KL: No. So, the reason… RD: How do you know that? KL: Well, you can believe – you can do the research – certainly the Lopers – just cause they have it around – they feed it to their pigs and they eat ‘em, so, um, those, it can’t. Let me, let me explain why it can’t. The reason it works so well on pigs is that pigs have an 8-week sperm cycle. Humans don’t. Fresh batch as needed. So, you can’t disrupt it. So, you can’t get enough in a pig to stay in its tissue so that if you eat it raw – because, of course, cooking it is going to \[unclear\] gossypol. I mean there’s like six different ways – it just - it can’t work. If it did, we’d have a real problem because it is being used as an animal feed ongoing and has been for decades. LT: OK. We have one more question from Commissioner Okumura. CO: Sorry, one more. I was thinking back to Kyle who gave testimony earlier. Could you address his question about the costs – were you there for that part, I couldn’t see… KL: I was and, you know, I don’t even, that’s not even relevant, I mean, I did say I haven’t sold them – so how is that relevant? CO: I’m sorry. My question was about like if it were to be implemented like how he would think it would cost billions of dollars based on the process and all that. KL: I have no idea how he came up with that but, I don’t think he was thinking intermittent feeding for one thing, and the Kaulike Project is really looking at this as – we’re not trying to eradicate pigs – you’re not gonna do that – we’re not trying to eradicate – maybe we’re gonna decide – it depends on what the community comes up with but basically we have to find areas where it’s OK for the pigs to be and decide the areas it’s not OK for the pigs to be. And where it’s not OK for the pigs to be through a combination of fertility control and trapping – we can move them to where it’s OK to be or use the meat for other products. So, I’m sorry, what you were asking – about Kyle’s about the cost – yeah, there are too many factors that come into that for me to give you any kind of a sensible answer. CO: So, it really would come down to like if you were, for example, saying we have this fenced area potentially and we’re going to do eradication or movement to another area – where this group in this area – and then that’s how you would determine the cost of eradication based on how much would be needed for that particular area, is that how that works? KL: I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I suppose you’re right so one of the significant costs is the feeder and, I’m working with folks to come up with more of a DIY situation because, I know I’m gonna \[unclear\] people in the hunting community who are really good at that kind of stuff, and, and certainly the farmers are, so, ah, to lower the cost, otherwise the feeders that I’ve seen that are good are quite expensive, so that would be another cost to take in but what is the cost of the extinction of amakihi? Like we’re not, we don’t know how to, we’re not quantifying those things… CO: Thank you… 20