2014-09-15 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – September 15, 2014 with this stuff, we should at least understand the history of this thing. And I not pointing fingers at anybody particularly, but, you know, it took a lawsuit because DLNR was going to change a rule without public hearing. And so the law suit said, wait a minute, you have to have public hearings. So, if we are in the process of saying we’re going to recommend changes to that – I would suggest that we do that rather softly, right. Which brings up another issue for me. I’m sorry to… Chair Lodge: Can I address this one thing, though, that you mentioned on that. I agree with you. We shouldn’t be changing major rules without administrative rules, but I think we’re having an issue like bag limits, right? Bag limits take an administrative rule change rather than a decision by DOFAW and their biologist. We should probably be looking at giving the biologist the right to make the difference on the bag limits. Rather than have to wait seven years to get the bag rules changed for a bird… D. Yoshina: I can agree with the those kind of thoughts, but for me, I’ve always come back to a question of, what is the policy? And for the past year or so, I’ve been reading stuff, I’ve been thinking about stuff, you know it’s very difficult for me to determine what the game policy is in the State of Hawaii or what the fish, you know, aquatics policy is in the State of Hawaii. I understand what it says in the constitution and I understand what it says in the statute, but I don’t understand how it’s been interpreted and practiced in the state. And by that I mean, if you have a policy that says you’re going to manage your game resources and you have no game management plan, what does that say about the policy? And so the question I have for DLNR and perhaps the Land Board is so what is your policy? Do you have a policy? And from what I’m seeing – having read the federal laws, it seems to me the federal laws drive the state laws. And the state has, in fact, just rolled over and said, whatever you tell us to do, we’re gonna do it. So as a first step in this whole thing, I’d like to know what is the policy of DOFAW, DOBAR, all of these guys. What is their understanding of the state law. They should come in and publically tell the people of the State of Hawaii how they see their job. What is the policy they’re supposed to be implementing? Chair Lodge: Would you like them to come back and discuss that with us? D. Yoshina: It would be a good starting point. K. De Coito: You know and this is Kalani again, that is so on the money, Ike. On the money, Ike. You know and that’s what it is, you know, what is the policy, you know, do you have data to support that in writing, you know, any type of reports stating that kind stuff. I mean… L. Hadway: We have our Pittman Robertson five-year plan. 24