PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Tell Hawaii to Protect Corals by Codifying Day Use Moorings
  1. Signatures
    178 out of 200
    Petitioning
    1. Office of the Chairperson, DLNR (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Office of the Chairperson, DLNR (Peter Young)
      • Acting Administrator Division of Boating and Ocean Resources (Ed R Underwood)
  2. Created By
    Marah Hardt
    Kailua Kona, HI
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

Day Use Moorings (DUM) are an effective means of reducing anchor-related damage to coral reef ecosystems and have proven effective across reefs around the world. In Hawaii, over 200 DUMs have been installed in locations around the state to help fishers, divers, and other ocean-users have convenient and secure places to anchor their boats while preventing damage to the natural habitat. Yet, many of these DUMs have not been codified into rule by the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. This leaves open the potential for boaters to avoid penalties when they do not use a nearby DUM and choose to anchor on delicate coral reef habitats—a situation that just recently occured. Although this case raises many questions, one thing is clear:

It is time for the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation to codify all Day Use Moorings into rule in order to protect Hawaii's valuable coral reefs.

Photo credit: takomabibelot

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Codify into rule existing Day Use Mooring Buoys

Greetings,

I am writing to encourage swift action towards officially codifying into rule the multiple Day Use Moorings (DUMs) that exist around the nearshore waters of Hawaii. These moorings were installed in order to serve as safe, convenient, and secure moorings for boaters, with the intention of reducing anchor damage to Hawaii's precious coral reefs.

Codifying the moorings into rule is a necessary step in order to enforce current rules that prohibit anchoring on coral reef habitat within 100 yards of a DUM (rule 13-257-4). As the recent incident on big island attests, lack of enforcement in this area is a big problem and major threat to coral reefs of Hawaii.

It is time for the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation to codify all Day Use Moorings into rule in order to protect Hawaii's valuable coral reefs. I look forward to your strong leadership in pushing through such action by the end of this year.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

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