The last time “normal” content ran in The Bright Side was back on March 9. There was absolutely no mention of coronavirus, or COVID-19, in that piece. Not a peep.
We may have just lived through one of the shortest intervals in history between the “good old days” and the confounding calamity we are living through now.
One good thing about Hawaii is that the state is so small, government officials are actually pretty darn accessible. Whether or not you get the answer you want from them is an entirely different matter. However, sometimes you do.
A couple of weeks ago, the Governor put out a new rule, stating: No more than two persons are allowed in any boat on Hawaii’s waters for recreational purposes. I’m happy to report that this particular rule no longer applies to fishing. Subsistence fishing (fishing for food) and commercial fishing are allowed, per the Governor’s sixth proclamation.
Many people wrote in to them, informing them why this rule made no sense, and it appears that they actually listened, because they rescinded it pretty darn quickly. That accessibility and response is not too bad, especially for government!
The term “recreational” has always created a conundrum when applied to fishers in Pacific islands. National Marine Fisheries did a study which documented that most folks in Hawaii who consider themselves to be “recreational” fishers sell some of their catch on a regular basis.
On the other side of the coin, a report by the FAO-UN down in the Solomon Islands documented that while subsistence fishing for breakfast, villagers were clearly competing to see who could catch the biggest and the most, laughing the whole time. Another recent episode mentioned Capt. Kenton Geer taking some young men in their teens and early twenties out commercial fishing, and how they took to the hard work enthusiastically, and had fun doing it.
So, people fishing for recreation are making money while people fishing for food are competing and laughing, and others who fish as a business are having fun. So who is a “recreational” fisherman?”
When you get back out on the water, if you catch a marlin and let it go, don’t tell anybody you were recreational fishing — tell them it was too big to eat! And whatever you do, don’t have fun catching anything. You don’t want to get arrested for recreating when you are supposed to be subsisting. That’s just not the type of government accessibility you want.
Believe it or not, as we enter our sixth week of this craziness, we are inching closer and closer to summer, the busy season for a lot of folks in the outdoor sports world. Kona is home to a number of world class marine events, and each is planning for summer in their own way.
The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament has been canceled. The Rock n Reel tournament of the Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club has been postponed.
The Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series is planning to run its full roster of events this summer, but has shifted the schedule in order to buffer for the unknowns of June. The state has not released any plans or guidance on the topic of opening up to visitors yet. However, officials have been quoted as saying that whatever the plan turns out to be, it won’t be “normal,” and it’s not likely to be normal for a while.
If the process to reopen to visitors starts unfolding in June, it may take a few weeks to work the bugs out. With this in mind, the HMT Series has moved the big events later in the summer, purely in hope that the unknowns of August are kinder than those of June and July.
The Lazy Marlin Hunt got caught in the cross fire of dueling state rules in late March and had to be canceled, but will return in July. If there are still restrictions in July, that’s Okay. The tournaments now scheduled for July are popular with locals who have herd immunity to travel restrictions.
But you know what? We are all guessing. Every crystal ball in the State has an expired warranty and every dang one is out for repairs.
Although the state has yet to issue any plan for reopening the visitor industry — according to Google Flights, airlines are increasing direct flights into Kona incrementally, starting in June. For example, on most June days, there are three direct flights scheduled into Kona from Seattle. In July that increases to four a day, and that is just Seattle.
Although Google Flights warns of travel restrictions, the individual airlines websites often do not. There is a lot of pent up desire on the mainland to get out of the house, and go to Hawaii. People are buying these tickets.
Government has been pretty darn accessible so far throughout this debacle, so let’s hope that trend continues because crystal balls are saying that there is a disconnect between the airlines, the State and the travelers who may all get caught in the next cross fire of regulations.
Here is what the 2020 Hawaii Marlin Tournament schedule looks like now:
2020 Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series
Kona Kick Off July 4-5
Lazy Marlin Hunt Returns July 7, 8 and 9
Lure Makers July 10, 11 and 12
Firecracker August 8-9
Kona Throw Down August 11, 12 and 13
Skins Marlin Derby August 14, 15 and 16
Big Island Marlin August 21, 22 and 23
It’s a Wrap September 18, 19 and 20
https://konatournaments.com/
