"Some folks made a killing depleting the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Wait ‘til you see how much they’ll make not to fish there anymore."
So says the Honolulu Weekly, in a recent story.
I know some of the characters referred to in this story, the ones who made a pile of money to stop fishing. There is one thing that never changes in the story of fishing in Hawaii. A few people are doing really well, whether they're fishing or not.
The captains of industry get to be captains of fishery management in Hawaii. Jim Cook was the head of two fishing organizations, and also the head of the Fishery Management Council, the policy-making body that regulated his own fishing. When Jim Cook termed out of the management seat, his business partner Sean Martin took over. Neat. And most amazing of all, thanks to a special and unique legal exemption from conflict of interest law, Cook and Martin got paid a nice salary from the federal government for their time serving the public by managing themselves.
So I'm not surprised to see them getting a federal buyout. And they'll keep fishing anyway, just emphasizing a different fishery in a different place. It's not like they really had to quit fishing.
Sigh, I think I'm in the wrong line of work. Tweet
