On December 16 and 17, 2016, the William S. Richardson School of Law’s Environmental Law Program hosted the 2016 Hawaiʻi Marine Resource Enforcement Conference (“HMREC 2”). As the second Hawaii Marine Resource Enforcement Conference (the first was in 2014), HMREC 2016 was a great success in terms of strengthening the network of legal professionals focused on marine resource enforcement, as well as providing opportunities for community and agency collaboration.
This year’s conference supplemented plenary panel discussions with a workshop where attendees developed easily implementable action plans to address areas of need in marine enforcement. The workshop was conducted by Smallify, a Silicon Valley based firm that specializes in innovative capacity building that has worked with Stanford University, the City and County of San Francisco, and The White House, among others. In addition to Richardson’s Environmental Law Program, HMREC 2 sponsors included the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, Conservation International, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”).
A total of 97 attendees participated in HMREC 2, representing a diverse range of professionals from across the state, including:
• City and County of Honolulu Office of the Prosecuting Attorney
• Kaua’i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney
• Maui County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney
• Hawaiʻi County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney
• State of Hawaiʻi Office of the Public Defender
• State of Hawaiʻi Judiciary (including Environmental Court judges from the First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Judicial Circuits)
• Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi
• DLNR Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement
• DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources
• DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation
• United States Fish and Wildlife Service
• NOAA Office of Law Enforcement
• NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
• NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office
• United States Coast Guard
• Hawaiʻi State Office of the Attorney General
• William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa.
Additionally, community members from marine resource enforcement hotspots on the islands of Kauaʻi, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Hawaiʻi island attended and participated in collaborative workshop activities with the aforementioned professionals, allowing for direct exchange of ideas between community members, federal and state agencies in the marine enforcement chain.
This diverse range of attendees from across the spectrum of marine resource enforcement coalesced into a unique and unparalleled opportunity to educate and train stakeholders on issues of importance in marine resource management.
On Friday, December 16, DLNR Chair Suzanne Case provided opening remarks and spoke on Hawaiʻi’s commitment to effectively manage 30 percent of its marine resources by 2030. Chair Case was followed by departmental staff who provided an overview of Hawaiʻi’s management scheme and its enforcement agency. These speakers were: Jason Redulla, Acting Chief, Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement; Bruce Anderson, Administrator, Division of Aquatic Resources; David Sakoda, Legal Fellow, Division of Aquatic Resources; and Maria Gaydos, Legal Fellow, Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. Jack Kittinger, Senior Director of Conservation International’s (“CI”) Global Fisheries and Aquaculture program, spoke about CI’s work to support DLNR as well as challenges faced by the agency. A second panel discussion focused on DLNR’s work with local communities to conserve and protect fisheries, and featured remarks by DOCARE Makai Watch Coordinator Luna Kekoa, and DOCARE Maui Supervisor Brooks Tamaye.
On Saturday, December 17, HMREC participants focused on marine resource adjudication as well as Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights in ocean resources before spending the afternoon engaged collaborative workshop activities.
Saturday morning’s program included an overview of Hawaiʻi ’s environmental court system, with remarks by: Justice Michael Wilson, Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi; Denise Antolini, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, William S. Richardson School of Law; Judge Trudy Senda, Environmental Court Judge; Fifth Circuit, Hawaiʻi State Judiciary; Clinton Piper, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu; Elika Otoya, Deputy Public Defender, State of Hawaiʻi; and John Foster, DOCARE Legal Fellow. Alan Friedlander, Chief Scientist for the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas Program, provided an overview of traditional and modern initiatives being employed across the pacific region to address marine poaching. An extensive overview of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights as well as a survey of case law pertaining to such rights was provided by Professor Malia Akutagawa, of the Richardson School of Law’s Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law.
During the afternoon of Saturday, December 17, HMREC attendees participated in collaborative workshops aimed at addressing issues in marine resource management and enforcement by identifying “small,” easily implementable initiatives. Under the guidance of Dave Viotti, founder and CEO of “Smallify” (www.smallify.it), interdisciplinary teams produced action plans. HMREC organizers received an inordinate amount of positive feedback from the Saturday afternoon workshops. One of the linchpins of the Smallify process is to produce action plans that can be implemented immediately, without placing too much of a strain on existing agency resources or requiring additional resources.
In keeping with this theme, HMREC 2 attendees and members of the planning committee are working to implement best practices shared at the conference, reach out to other marine resource stakeholders, and increase awareness about key areas of need across the marine resource spectrum, from the policymaking and regulatory levels down to distinct user groups. For more information about initiatives developed at HMREC 2, or to put your name on the list for HMREC 3 (to be held in 2018), please contact the Environmental Law Program or DOCARE Legal Fellow John Foster at john.r.foster@hawaii.gov .