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Rules Approved for Miloli‘i Subsistence Fishing Area

The Miloli‘i Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA) on Hawai‘i Island was approved with Hawai‘i Administrative Rules adopted by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR).

In 2005, Miloli‘i became the first permanent, legislatively designated CBSFA in Hawai‘i. After years of community-led public workshops and meetings, the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) conducted statewide public scoping last December.

“The Miloli’i CBSFA has been in the works for decades,” Chris Teague, DAR Hawaii Island biologist, noted in a Miloli‘i CBSFA community outreach transcript. “The Miloli‘i community has been working a long time with just getting it designated which happened in 2005 and then moving to get rules to happen which took a lot longer.”

Often called “The Last Fishing Village in Hawai‘i,” fishers in the coastal areas surrounding Miloli‘i still practice traditional Hawaiian fishing skills. Additionally, Miloli‘i and other South Kona communities have a high number of fishers who say fishing is their primary occupation. In Miloli‘i, as in ancient Hawai‘i, ‘ōpelu is a prime subsistence catch.

Laila Kaupu, Miloli‘i Ancestral Descendant and CBSFA outreach coordinator, talked about the deep ‘ōpelu tradition in the community transcript. “We come from long lines of fishermen, specifically ‘ōpelu fishermen. I am fifth-generation ‘ō pelu fisherman, coming out of Miloli‘i. It’s been a way of the people,” she explained, “and something that we keep dear to us. This is what we continue to do as it was handed down to me, I hand it down to my own as it was handed down to my dad and my mom from their parents. It continues here and that’s pretty much the history and the today of Miloli‘i.”

The CBSFA rules include:

- Size and/or bag limits for