Two Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) officers, responding to an anonymous call Saturday night, ended up citing a Honolulu man for two violations.
A witness contacted DOCARE at 8:15 p.m. to report several men laying a net off Wailupe Beach Park. When officers arrived, they began observing a group of men sitting at a picnic table. Two of them were in wet suits and a three-pronged spear and dive flag were on the table. Forty-five minutes later the officers saw the two men in wet suits walking toward the water and then a short time later they observed the men working with a suspected lay net.
The use of the net in the lay-net fishing method at night, along virtually all of the south shore of O‘ahu, is illegal. The officers contacted the pair and they indicated they had just purchased and registered the net the week before. They told the DOCARE officers that they read through the rule book, but felt it wasn’t clear, so they took a chance on putting their net out.
During the three hours, it was in the water, they said they snagged several weke (goatfish), cleaned them, and barbequed them at the park. Two legal-sized goatfish were caught up in the net and were returned to the resources.
46-year-old Gemilo Padsing of Honolulu told officers he was taking full responsibility for the illegal use of his new net, and he was cited for laying net 30-minutes before sunset and 30-minutes prior to sunrise, as well as using a net in a closed area. Both violations are petty misdemeanors and Padsing has an initial court appearance on Jan. 7, 2022, in Honolulu District Court.