DOCARE marine patrols now on all islands, July 1, 2025

Marine patrol units of the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) are now active on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i Island, Maui and Kaua‘i.

DOCARE Chief Jason Redulla said, “Our marine patrol units are vital to our mission of protecting the natural and cultural resources of Hawai‘i, particularly when the state has more than 700 miles of coastline and we’re responsible for law enforcement from the high water mark of beaches, to three miles seaward.”

Lt. Errol “Sparky” Kane leads the marine patrol unit on O‘ahu. During a recent patrol of the island’s south shore, he commented, “Hawai‘i’s engine is our natural resources. It’s the ocean and the mountains and the climate that make people want to come here. In order to preserve and protect these resources we have to have an enforcement presence that works mauka to makai.”

Much of what DOCARE officers do on a daily basis emphasizes education over enforcement, according to department officials. During the O‘ahu marine patrol, officers on a boat and on personal water craft (PWC/jet skis) approached the owner of a PWC who’d pulled his craft up on a beach where it was against the law. He received a warning.

A short time later they saw three surfers in an area where surfing is not permitted. They were asked to leave the area.

While land-based DOCARE officers supplement the work of the marine patrol units as needed, it’s up to the ocean-going patrols to be on the water regularly. Kane says his team is normally patrolling at least four to five days each week.

On Hawai‘i Island recently, the marine patrol unit consisting of three officers got additional help to conduct a night operation just off Keauhou Bay. More than a half-dozen commercial tour boats hauled hundreds of people out to view manta rays. DOCARE officers conducted numerous “safety boardings” in which they checked for the presence of all required safety equipment and ensured that all vessels were properly licensed and permitted.

Earlier on the same day, DOCARE officers not attached to the Hawai‘i Branch marine patrol unit sailed to Kealakekua Bay with the primary goal of watching for kayakers and other boaters interacting with spinner dolphins.

On the way, they stopped several fishing boats to conduct safety checks. While no citations were written, one operator was given a warning for having a child on board not wearing a personal flotation device as required by law.

At Kealakekua, they launched a drone after seeing a school of dolphins near kayaks and commercial tour boats. Focusing on one particular kayak, it appeared that they may have been chasing dolphins.

DOCARE Officer Amanda Llanes flew the drone over the two-person kayak, but could not tell definitively whether the couple was breaking federal laws related to spinner dolphins.

Federal laws for protected marine species have supremacy over state laws, but DOCARE officers are deputized by NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) to investigate and collect evidence.

Currently, NOAA OLE has no officers stationed on Hawai‘i Island. “So, we go out and document, provide reports and evidence and forward it to NOAA. They decide whether or not to prosecute,” Llanes explained.

Members of the DOCARE marine patrol units are all expert watermen and waterwomen, some having been lifeguards for many years before becoming law enforcement officers. “Here in Hawai‘i we try not to be too forceful, because that’s not our nature, Kane said. We try to give people a break, but we can only give so many breaks. If we told you once, you’ll probably get a citation the second time around. So, we try not to be too forceful just because this is what we do in Hawai‘i, the Aloha spirit.”