Ala Moana Beach Fishery Management Area Draft Management Plan
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Ala Moana Beach Fishery Management Area Draft Management Plan Division of Aquatic Resources January 15, 2021 Place names and history Ala Moana beach is located on Oʿahu’s south shore in the ahupuaʿa of Waikīkī and the moku of Kona. Though it is now well known by this name, the traditional name of the area is Kālia. Kupuna recall the swamp land and fishponds that previously resided there as well as the long lineages of mahiʿai (farmers) and lawaiʿa (fishermen) ‘ohana that stewarded the area. Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa describes the historical image of Kālia as home to koloa (ducks), manu (birds), numerous fish, and neighboring kalo (taro) patches1. By the early 1900’s, the compounding effects of consequential events caused the ecologically rich environment of Kālia to shift. The area took a downturn as the wetland portion became overgrown with invasive plants such as bulrushes and kiawe trees and the city began using it as a dumping ground. A boat channel 20-30 feet deep and 1,000 yards long was dredged through the coral reef to join two popular boat harbors, Kewalo Basin and Ala Wai Boat Harbor. The City and County of Honolulu were granted the site on the condition that the property “be used wholly as a public park”. In 1931, the City and County Board of Parks and Recreation acknowledged the benefits this area could provide to recreational users and designated the area as “Moana Park” which initiated filling of the swamp land and development of other recreational facilities.2 The park opened to the public in 1934 and the name was later changed to Ala Moana meaning “Path to the sea”. In 1955, each end of the boat channel was filled to create what is now known as Kewalo Basin Park and Magic Island. Magic Island was the start of a resort hotel project intended to cover thirty acres of shallow reef but was unexpectedly halted. The man-made peninsula was renamed ʿāina moana or “land from the sea” to acknowledge how it was made from dredged coral fill.3 The area is now a popular site frequented by many residents and visitors. The easy access to wide varieties of recreational uses by beach goers, swimmers, snorkelers, and surfers create high traffic in the beach area. The addition of facilities in the park such as volleyball courts, tennis courts, concession stands, and picnic tables make it appealing to all types of visitors. Though this area underwent many changes, kupuna ask that the fishing ground of the past and the stories of this place are kept alive. 1 https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/11840199/the-history-behind-ala-moana/ 2 https://historichawaii.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/HHF_Ala-Moana-Park-History-Walk_Lei-of- Parks_090118-1.pdf 3 http://hawaiibeachsafety.com/oahu/ala-moana-beach Ala Moana Beach FMA – DAR Draft Management Plan January 15, 2021 Current uses Ala Moana is a popular park in Oʿahu with roughly 76 acres accommodating to beach goers, surfers, swimmers, tennis players, picnickers, fishers, joggers, and many more. The long stretch of beach and shallow sandy areas are ideal for families and visitors. Swimmers and stand-up paddleboarders will go back and forth in the dredged channel because it is sheltered from wave action by the shallow reef and deep enough to not worry about being injured from hitting the bottom. Schools of fish in the dredged channel and across the reef attract fishers. Popular surf sites located offshore and easy access to the surf breaks invite surfers. Crowding in these areas typically increases during the summer months when ocean users take advantage of the optimal weather conditions: the volume of visitors increase, local residents take vacation time with their families while school is not in session, fishers make the most of the optimal weather, and the summer swell draws crowds of surfers. The picture below demonstrates the sites where fishing occurs throughout the park with blue fish and hook icons. However, fishing at theses sites occurs at different scales. Most fishers are dunking, whipping, and fly-fishing on the jetties of the Magic Island side (peninsula on the eastern-side) of the park or on the shallow reef inside the surfbreaks for papio, oʻio, mū and barracuda where swimmers are not present. However, schools of oama, halalu, akule, and sardines may wander into the dredged channel or towards the side nearest the Ala Wai Harbor. When this occurs, fishers will congregate in the sites near the swim channel and some will walk onto the reef flat to look for tako. Figure 1: The following demonstrates activity observed and conducted by Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) staff. The blue fish and hook icons represent places where fishing occurs, the yellow pins are currently survey sites monitored by DAR staff, and the green and white pins are old survey sites no longer monitored. The peninsula extending into the water on the right is popularly known as Magic Island. 2 Ala Moana Beach FMA – DAR Draft Management Plan January 15, 2021 Area of Consideration The proposed area will cover the same boundaries outlined in administrative rules of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR), Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) §13-244-34, delineating Ala Moana Beach Park Ocean Waters as an Ocean Recreation Management Area (ORMA). The area encompasses 0.0566 square miles and extends across 0.876 miles of coastline. Boundaries are described as follows and outlined in Figure 2: (1) Beginning at a point on the Ewa side of Magic Island Park where the rock revetment joins the beach (21.285999, -157.847258); (2) Along the mean high water mark of Ala Moana Beach to the Diamond Head boundary of Kewalo Basin (21.291285, -157.855535); (3) Along the edge of the reef line shown to a point opposite the point of beginning (21.290496, -157.856023); and (4) In a Diamond Head direction to and ending at the point of beginning (21.286163, -157.847685). Figure 2: Boundaries outlined in yellow delineate the Ala Moana Beach Park Ocean Waters as defined in HAR §13-244-24 for an Ocean Recreation Management Area (ORMA) instituted by DOBOR. The proposed fishery management area would share the same boundaries. Nearshore Geography and habitat The proposed management area includes a variety of habitat types. The beach reaches along the coastline across the entire beach park. From shore, sandy and rocky bottoms extend into a dredged channel parallel to the coastline followed by a reef flat. Beyond the reef flat are multiple surf breaks. DAR monitoring staff identify habitat zones in the area to include a reef flat, back reef, reef crest, fore reef, and reef slope in addition to habitat characterizations such as pavement with sand channels and 3 Ala Moana Beach FMA – DAR Draft Management Plan January 15, 2021 ledges, spur & groove, shallow and deep aggregate reef, patch reefs, rock boulders, rock rubble, and artificial structures. Fish species such as ʻoama (juvenile yellowstripe goatfish, Mulloidichthys flavolineatus, and juvenile yellowfin goatfish, Mulloidichthys vanicolensis), halalu (juvenile bigeye scad), akule (bigeye scad, Selar crumenophthalmus), nehu (Hawaiian anchovy, Encrasicolina purpurea), ʻIao (Hawaiian silverside, Atherinomorus insularum) and sardines (Hawaiian surf sardine, Iso hawaiiensis) school in the dredged channel or near the Ala Wai side of the park. Other fish species such as papio (young ulua; an encompassing term for the jack and trevallies family including white ulua (giant trevally, Caranx ignobilis), omilu (bluefin trevally, Caranx melampygus) , paʻopaʻo (golden trevally, Gnathanodon speciosus), and Papa (island jack, Carangoides orthogrammus)), oʻio (bonefish, Albula vulpes), mū (bigeye emperors, Monotaxis grandoculis), and kaku (great barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda) are typically found outside of the dredged channel near the reef and rocky areas. Smaller reef fish and invertebrates such as sea urchins and octopuses occupy the shallow reef flat. Current status, monitoring activities, and needed monitoring activities Monitoring activities in the area include water quality testing by the Department of Health in the beach park. There are two UH buoys outside the Ala Wai and Kewalo that collect water quality data. Pacific Island Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS https://www.pacioos.hawaii.edu/projects/coral/) collects water quality data for the area. The area is subject to high fluctuations in water quality with rain and extreme weather due to its proximity to coastal developments. DAR conducts coral bleaching surveys at the deeper sites of (OSAA, OSA1, and OSAC) in the Figure 1, but has not done the shallower snorkel-depth sites enough to determine if there is coral bleaching there additionally. The Hawaii Marine Recreational Fishing Survey (HMRFS) collects data from fishers on the Magic Island side of Ala Moana, but does not within the beach park. To monitor the effectiveness of this fishery management area, monitoring activities would include social surveys to determine the benefits to users of the area, creel surveys to determine differences in fish species and catch, and activities and use surveys to see how use of the area has changed with implementation of the rule. Collection of this information will assist DAR in reviewing the effectiveness of management measures, and making amendments accordingly. Current regulations The area is currently designated as an Ocean Recreation Management Area by DOBOR. HAR §13-244-34 provides that “no person shall operate or moor a vessel in the Ala Moana Beach Park ocean waters except manually-propelled outrigger canoes may be operated in the canoe practice area.” The canoe practice area is confined by boundaries as shown on Figure 2, above, as the dotted purple area. This rule does not apply in the case of emergency or to patrol or rescue craft. The area falls within a larger Lay Net Fishing Prohibited Area established by the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) that extends along the south shore of Oahu from Kawaihoa Point to Keahi Point from the shoreline out to three nautical miles.4 4 HAR 13-75-12.4(f) 4 Ala Moana Beach FMA – DAR Draft Management Plan January 15, 2021 Ala Moana Beach Park is managed by the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation.