2017-07-25 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawai’i Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – July 25, 2017 NP: Couldn’t there be a milder approach to things – banana poka – no banana poka – sheep – no sheep. I mean, as scientist wouldn’t you want to be a little more gentle toward nature being that it’s so complex and there are so many unknown things and as scientists wouldn’t you like to be able to be corrected, gather new information and admit well maybe we didn’t do the right thing, and maybe we should do something different and representing the game animals that’s all we ask – we love the native species. As you can see, we’re concerned - we love them – we want to know and we support you but we’d like to see some more of a moderate approach and more of a fair approach to ecosystems where everything can co-exist cause you say, well, the sheep were overly browsing the mamane – they have a history of devastation – well, maybe because they weren’t managed properly and we push heavy about management – managing the game – finding the right population and keeping it. PB: Yes. I personally believe in moderation in most things but so often we don’t have control over how much or how little to manage something. As a researcher we have no control because it’s not our kuleana at all. It’s actually, rare when a manager actually can get to zero on something. That’s a rare event. Usually, they’re struggling to just knock things down to a level that’s noticeably lower. Case in point is almost, almost any weed – poka’s a good example of where biocontrol – they used the fungus that’s pretty darn effective – whether it will continue to be effective - it’s effective in that area. I don’t know if it’s spreading to other poka populations or not but it’s kind of – you can count them one or two hands the number of times – it’s like that weed – they knocked it way down. If you look at the history of biocontrol – Hawaii was one of the proving grounds – Australia, Hawaii, California – back in the late 1800s they brought in all kinds of things to control agricultural pests. TL: Yeah, the mongoose... PB: Mongoose and lots of insects. It was just a time of kind of unrestricted experimentation. BM: My name is Brian Mabry. I am representing myself and not any government organization. I heard you state, Paul, earlier on that some of the old researchers probably even your father went to different places to get information but it also sounded like they went farmers and hunters. So is that true that you went to hunters, farmers, people who lived in the areas where these species used to live? 20