New Online Maps Outline Coastal Resource Management Areas

Recreational users, scientific researchers and others who enjoy Maunalua Bay and other coastal waters have a new online resource that will help promote compliance to aquatic rules and regulations: MapTool, an interactive geographic information system unveiled earlier this month by the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The department’s Division of Aquatic Resources and Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation have used the system to create maps that outline boundaries of resource management areas and provides site-specific information, including applicable regulations and a link to the relevant Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, according to a department press release.

On the DAR map, for example, a marker for the Paikō Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary notes what is prohibited in the area: “To remove, disturb, injure, kill or possess any form of plant or wildlife (no fishing). To introduce any form of plant or wildlife.”

Click here to view the DAR map.

The DOBOR map, meanwhile, outlines the recreation areas within Maunalua Bay:

Click here to view the DOBOR map.

To read the full DLNR press release, click here.

Learn More About the Maps

If you’d like to find out more about the new online tools, you can attend workshops being held statewide by DLNR’s community outreach Makai Watch Program. The program encourages citizens and non-governmental organizations aid DLNR in promoting compliance to rules, education, and monitoring.

The first two workshops will be on O‘ahu on:
Saturday Feb. 17 from 9:00-11:00 a.m.: Kamiloiki Elementary Cafeteria, 7788 Hawai‘i Kai Dr, Honolulu
Saturday Feb. 24 from 9:15-11:15 a.m.: Wai‘anae Intermediate Cafeteria, 85-626 Farrington Hwy, Wai‘anae

Additional workshops on the neighbor islands are planned, according to the state.