Unattended Lay Net Recovered on Lānaʻi

An officer with the state Department Land and Natural Resources, Division of Conservation and Resources recovered an unattended lay net from offshore of the island of Lānaʻi over the weekend.

The discovery was reported by a resident on Saturday night, about 50-yards offshore on the northeast side of the island.

The 125-foot-long net was recovered on Sunday morning. It had no registration tags as required by law. A single dead fish was in the net and the officer did not see anyone in the area. In addition to requiring registration tags, nets cannot be used from one-half hour before sunrise or one-half hour after sunset. 

DOCARE Chief Jason Redulla said, “We want to thank the person who reported this violation.  Unattended lay nets can indiscriminately kill all types of marine life, including seals and turtles, until it is removed from the water. This timely report prevented more marine life from getting caught in the net.” 

Violations can be reported by calling the DOCARE hotline at 643-DLNR (3567) or via the free DLNRTip app.