������Ƶ

UPDATED 8/18/11 10:15 a.m. Local fishermen voiced angry opposition to a proposed expansion of a critical habitat zone to include waters and shoreline around the main Hawaiian islands last week to protect the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. But the impacts of such a designation could be much more far reaching.

Representatives from the have stressed that it was unlikely to affect fishing operations.

But the designation would mean that any activity that entails federal funding, federal permits or a federal action, must be reviewed by NOAA Fisheries Service to ensure that it wouldn’t adversely impact the monk seal population.

NOAA identified eight main areas that could be impacted:

• in-water and coastal construction

• dredging and disposal of dredged materials

• energy projects

• activities that generate water pollution

• aquaculture

• fisheries

• oil-spill and vessel-grounding response activities

• military activities

The 2011 was laden with the words “could” and “may,” and didn’t include many specifics. It did single out energy projects that could be impacted, including: the Big Wind project, which aims to lay cables between Oahu, Lanai and Molokai; wave energy projects; and ocean thermal energy conversion, which uses the temperature differential between deep, cold seawater and warmer surface water to generate electricity. The latter two are pre-commercial, but local companies have invested millions of dollars in their research.

Just because NOAA may be reviewing these projects, doesn’t mean that there will be any impact on them proceeding, environmental attorneys say.

“There’s a lot of hysteria and misinformation about the impact that critical habitat has on property and commercial development,” said Paul Achitoff, managing attorney at . “In my opinion, these fears are almost always overblown. It doesn’t create some kind of zone where nothing can happen.”

While he said that it was “simply ridiculous” to think there would be any freeze on development, he acknowledged it was possible that a project could be stopped from going forward.

“Otherwise the law wouldn’t have any meaning,” said Achitoff.

The proposed zone extends out to 500 meter depths around all the main Hawaiian islands, with certain areas, such as military bases, exempt. National security interests can trump environmental concerns, under NOAA regulations.

Large-scale projects proposed in Hawaii could face particular obstacles, however.

“There’s a difference between saying status quo is harming [monk seals] and needs to be changed, and a big new project is going to have to be examined closely,” Achitoff said. “It’s more the latter than the former.”

UPDATED , one of the environmental groups that brought the petition to expand the critical habitat zone, had raised concerns that sonar was harmful to the monk seal population. But KAHEA believes that sonar will not be immediately impacted by the critical habitat designation.

The proposed expansion of the critical habitat zone could also bring up a range of issues with private property owners, according to , an attorney at Damon Key, who specializes in land use, maritime and environmental law.

Rather than including shore areas where the monk seal is known to reside, he noted that it includes a very broad swath of area where monk seals could possibly inhabit.

“It could impact anything having to do with the use of land in critical habitat areas,” said Murakami. “It looks like it is pretty broad on the main Hawaiian islands.”

For property owners this could entail additional costs in monitoring and assessing impacts of development, or even lead to inverse condemnation, where property owners can claim the government must pay them for their properties because a development project is stopped, he said.

Whether or not the proposed zone is approved by NOAA, and what effect it could ultimately have, remains to be seen. It’s not clear when a decision will be made.

Revision of the critical habitat became an issue three years ago when three environmental groups — KAHEA, Center for Biological Diversity and Oceanic Institute — brought a petition to NOAA, forcing the federal agency to reevaluate the zone.

Supporters of the measure hope it will play an important role in aiding the species recovery. One of the most endangered marine mammals in the world, the monk seals have been declining at a rate of 4 percent a year, according to NOAA. The seals only exist in Hawaii waters and it’s estimated that there are less than 1,200 left – a level that threatens their survival.

“I think the monk seals need all the help they can get,” said Achitoff. “I think this can only help.”