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DLNR proposes Maunalua Bay artificial reef expansion; seeks permits and community input on fishery rules
Summary
The Department of Land and Natural Resources said it plans to expand the Maunalua Bay artificial reef, deploy roughly 2,200 concrete modules to enhance fish habitat, begin permitting this year and aim for deployment in summer 2025 while starting associated rulemaking on nighttime spearfishing.
Jake Richard, an aquatic biologist with the Division of Aquatic Resources (DLNR), briefed the board on a proposal to expand Maunalua Bay's existing artificial reef. He described the current 74-acre site roughly 1.5–2 miles offshore and said the expansion would add a similar-size rectangle northeast of the existing reef, deploying about 2,200 concrete modules (Z-modules and cubes) to create higher-structure piles that reduce sand scouring and encourage coral recruitment and fish habitat.
"We are trying to deploy about 2,200 modules," Richard said, and explained the project is funded in part by donated concrete and federal matching funds. He said historic-preservation review has been submitted and that environmental permitting (including an Army Corps review and an EIS/EA process) is pending; baseline field surveys are planned for early 2025 with deployment targeted for summer 2025. Richard also said DLNR is initiating a Chapter 13 rulemaking process on a proposed nighttime spearfishing ban in Maunalua Bay and plans community outreach with fishers and stakeholders.
