DOCARE Hawai‘i Branch Marine Unit officers seized a fishing vessel after receiving multiple complaints about longline fishing occurring in the Hawai‘i State Territorial Sea, comprising 3,069 square miles of water, that extends 12 nautical miles around the state.
Officers boarded the Wai‘aka about seven miles offshore, after observing it fishing with approximately four miles of line deployed. It is illegal to longline fish in state waters within the state Territorial Sea, which extends from the high-water mark to 12 nautical miles from shore.
52-year-old Konane Zager of Kona was cited for violating HRS Section 189-2.5, relating to Long Line Fishing Prohibition. The criminal penalty for violating this section is a petty misdemeanor.
Three ahi were caught and a live one was released. The other two weighed in at 95 pounds and 103 pounds and had an estimated market value of $1251.
Zager is scheduled to appear in Kona District Court on June 19.
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