{"id":871622,"date":"2026-06-16T17:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/871622\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T17:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:29:20","slug":"state-seeks-to-fine-3-big-island-men-for-illegal-take-of-4000-opihi-from-marine-reserve-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/871622\/","title":{"rendered":"State seeks to fine 3 Big Island men for illegal take of 4,000 \u2018opihi from marine reserve : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Sept. 18, 2025, a community member witnessed a yellow-hulled vessel idling within the Ka\u2018\u016bp\u016blehu Marine Reserve<\/a> off the Kona Coast while three men carried large bags full of what appeared to be the traditional Hawaiian delicacy \u02bbopihi along the shoreline.<\/p>\n

Officers with the Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement followed up on the tip and tracked the alleged violators from the protected waters to the Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor, where they seized 4,068 \u2018opihi, a small sea snail that clings to coastal rocks.<\/p>\n

Now, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources is seeking to fine the three men from the Big Island. They were identifed as Brandon K. Carvalho, Kaipo J. Botehlo-Matthey, and Keaupililani J. Solomon-Lewis.<\/p>\n

During the June 12 meeting of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources<\/a>, the state resources enforcement division requested administrative fines and penalties totaling $46,186 or $15,395 each.<\/p>\n

The fines and penalties were requested after criminal citations in the case were dismissed in November 2025 with prejudice because the Hawai\u2018i County prosecuting attorney mistakenly thought there were no available criminal penalties for the violations initially brought against them by the Department of Land and Natural Resources. <\/p>\n

After about an hour of discussion and entering executive session, the seven-member land board voted unanimously to defer the fine request to enable the men to collaborate and communicate with the state department about a possible settlement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Carvalho acknowledged the group had gone out to gather fish and \u2018opihi for family celebrations, according to the state enforcement report last September.<\/p>\n

Also found on the boat were two butter knives that had been adapted for the purpose of taking \u2018opihi, and a red cooler containing legal reef fish, one ono and one tako.<\/p>\n

Ka\u2018\u016bp\u016blehu was established as a no-take reserve in 2016 from the shoreline to approximately 20 fathoms \u2014 to allow depleted reef resources to recover. This regulatory action implemented the community-driven \u201cTry Wait\u201d period\u2014a 10-year rest period prohibiting most nearshore fishing from K\u012bkaua Point to Kalaeman\u014d.<\/p>\n

That resting period, which ends this year, was to buy time for a plan for sustainable harvest to be developed.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Ka\u2018u\u0304pu\u0304lehu Marine Reserve is a 3.6-mile stretch of coastline from Kikaua Point to Kalaeman\u014d that extends out from the shoreline to a depth of 120 feet and is designated as a \u201cno take\u201d rest area and a \u201climited take\u201d area from the 120-foot contour out to the 600-foot contour. (Map: Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Land and Natural Resources)<\/p>\n

During the meeting, a personal friend of the men read the men\u2019s joint statement to the board, asking to reduce or waive the administrative penalties. <\/p>\n

It read in part: \u201cWe were born and raised locally and understand the importance of preserving our marine resources for future generations, and at no time did we intentionally violate any law or regulation. The basis of our request is that neither us or any of the others that were there were aware that we were within a designated no-pick zone or a marine reserve area at the time of the incident. We assessed the area by boat rather than by land.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement also drew attention to the dismissed criminal case and noted the recommended penalty \u201cappears a little excessive in light of the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Botelho-Matthey, along with Carvalho, attended the meeting held in O\u02bbahu by phone. Botelho-Matthey told the board he was sorry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m all about the Hawaiian culture,\u201d Botelho-Matthey said. \u201cI really feel bad. I try to provide. Not take.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Ka\u2018u\u0304pu\u0304lehu Marine Reserve was established as a no-take reserve in 2016 from the shoreline to approximately 20 fathoms to allow depleted reef resources to recover. (Photo Courtesy: Hawai\u02bbi Department of Land and Natural Resources)<\/p>\n

Rebecca Most, executive director of Hui Kahuwai<\/a>, provided testimony supporting the fines, saying she was part of the team that tried to return the \u2018opihi to the shoreline after they were recovered in September. But a few days later, she told board members that most of the native marine limpets did not survive.<\/p>\n

The mission of Hui Kahuwai is to protect and perpetuate the biocultural resources in Ka\u2018\u016bp\u016blehu.<\/p>\n

Most said the September incident is an example of how much can be taken and how quickly. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s precisely the kind of event that shows us how fragile the recovery is that we\u2019ve been working so hard on this past decade, and that the gains of a decade can be wiped out when people who don\u2019t know or respect this place treat the resource like an ATM instead of the ice box that it is,\u201d Most said. \u201cIn order for Ka\u2018\u016bp\u016blehu to feed the community long-term, we need to not be greedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wesley \u201cKaiwi\u201d Yoon, an at-large member of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, got emotional during the meeting as he spoke to the men facing the potential fines. Yoon said to claim ignorance was not acceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, our generation and each of these board members that you see in front of you, we fought to protect and preserve,\u201d Yoon said. \u201cBut at the same time, we wanted to extol the virtues and mana of our culture, even in the face of adversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese actions, these types of actions, boys, demonstrate our inability as a lahui to love and preserve and protect our fragile cultural resources. I\u2019m not upset, boys. I\u2019m disappointed and I\u2019m hurt. I\u2019m hurt because we fought all these years for you guys, this next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Sept. 18, 2025, a community member witnessed a yellow-hulled vessel idling within the Ka\u2018\u016bp\u016blehu Marine Reserve off…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":871623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[4788,114680,746,21647,53181,354596,354597,354598,159,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-871622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-conservation","tag-department-of-land-and-natural-resources","tag-environment","tag-hawaii-county","tag-illegal-fishing","tag-kaupulehu-marine-reserve","tag-marine-resources","tag-opihi","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116760974664094877","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}