What Governor Linda Lingle said in a June 15, 2006 press release on President George W. Bush’s designation of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a National Monument:
“This seamless partnership between the state and federal government, environmental conservationists, and Native Hawaiian organizations will preserve this special chain of atolls and reefs as a natural and cultural legacy.”
What she didn’t say:
Not to put too fine a point on Bush’s decision to preserve the islands—it’s a great victory to all of us, not merely Lingle who has advocated some kind of preservation—but Lingle’s use of the word “seamless” is a bit problematic. According to the June 16, 2006 Honolulu Advertiser, at least some Native Hawaiians are perturbed at the new ban on taking fish out of the monument, even if it was caught by Hawaiians engaging in sustenance fishing. “The access rights we’re talking about is to feed our family,” Native Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte told the Advertiser. “On the one hand, it’s like a natural hatchery up there so we get more food down here, but they should have the option for Hawaiians to collect from the sea. They need to recognize our rights.”
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