in waikiki, there is a law. fish one year, don’t fish the other. from the natatorium to the diamond head lighthouse, the government closes it off every other year. last year was closed and illegal to dive and fish, so as soon as the morning of 2012, there were hundreds of divers in the water trying to bring home new years dinner. i jumped on the harley, and went down to see what the boys caught.
of the hundreds of divers, i seen some friends i knew down there. super cool guys. i don’t know why, but free divers are the nicest people you’ll ever meet. humble, and just super kind. i know my friend was thirstier than i was, but he still offered me some precious water.
my dive friends know what is a legal, or what is an illegal catch. these fish are all legal size, which is good. but the thing that bummed me out were the divers walking out of the water with illegal size fish. i saw some of the smallest menpachi’s, kumu’s, and uhu’s. i even seen a baby tako. people say hawaii doesn’t have fish, this is why. where is the law enforcement? oh, i know. on vacation!!!! on the busiest day of the year for divers and fishermen, i didn’t see one DNLR officer down at the beach. that kind of pissed me off. it’s giving uneducated divers permission to take illegal fish out of our precious ocean. 20 years ago i use to see so many fish. today, there are few. in 20 years from now, i’m afraid to see what’s going to happen. my nephews are going to have to go on boat trips around the world to catch fish. or will they have to import it from china? scary thought.
