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“There’s a big difference between taking an action to kill versus using the flesh of an animal already dead,” said at-large Board of Land and Natural Resources member Sam Gon of the “warped argument” that some have made to board chair William Aila.

In discussing a proposal last month to use the meat of salvaged endangered Hawaiian monk seal carcasses as bait to catch the 20 or so Galapagos sharks that have learned to prey on pups at French Frigate Shoals (FFS), Aila said, “The question asked of me is, ‘You’re going to put me in jail for killing a seal, but you’re going to cut up and feed [the seals] to sharks?’”

Resentment by the fishing community against the seals has peaked in recent years following National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposals to temporarily relocate seals from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) to the Main Hawaiian Islands and to expand critical habitat for the animals. Although the relocation proposal has been withdrawn, it was not before a number of seals on Kauai, Molokai, and Oahu had been intentionally killed or injured.

In the case of the recent permit application by NOAA’s Frank Parrish and Alecia Van Atta to kill up to 18 sharks at French Frigate Shoals using salvaged seal meat (among other things) as bait, the seals are already dead, NOAA monk seal recovery coordinator Jeff Walters pointed out.

“We’re trying to use their bodies in a respectful way, to keep their brothers and sisters alive,” Walters said. He later added, “We’re not talking about chumming. … [T]here is going to be one piece of bait, no opportunity to train or habituate an animal to seal bait.”

Aila, however, was concerned that NOAA had not discussed the issue enough with native Hawaiian cultural practitioners, especially those who have been taking a lot of heat for defending seal protection efforts.

For years, the Land Board has begrudgingly issued permits to NOAA to cull the sharks, which some native Hawaiians consider sacred. In recent years, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument cultural working group have refused to support any of the shark culling permits. This year was no exception.

But to NOAA monk seal expert Charles Littnan, the predatory sharks at French Frigate Shoals need to be eradicated now more than ever. Juvenile survival in the NWHI has improved in recent years, and now shark predation is the main source of mortality there. Making matters worse, fewer pups are being born.

“In the past, we had leeway. There used to be hundreds of pups at French Frigate Shoals. Last year there were 34,” Littnan said.

Ever since the state established a reserve in the NWHI, NOAA has been using frozen tuna heads as bait, with little success. NOAA scientists have managed to catch just two sharks since the agency started getting permits from the Land Board for the work. Before the reserve was established, NOAA caught 12 sharks between 1999 and the early 2000s.

Back then, there were about twice as many sharks and they weren’t as wary of humans as they are now, Littnan said. What’s more, the scientists were able to use salvaged seal flesh as bait. Seal bait was used 15 times, with a total of three sharks captured as a result, Littnan said.

Even so, Aila seemed to want more discussion with cultural practitioners. He asked Littnan what would happen if the board required NOAA to take a year to do more community outreach. Littnan replied by saying he estimated 17 percent of the pups born this year at FFS could be lost. Sharks had already killed two pups at the time of the board meeting.

In the end, although some members were worried about backlash in the Main Hawaiian Islands, the board approved the permit on the condition that NOAA have more discussion with cultural practitioners about the use of seal meat.

“The seal meat is a resource for them to use to move through this issue,” Big Island Land Board member Rob Pacheco said.

The permit covers activities from June 1 to May 31, 2014.

About the author: Teresa Dawson is a staff writer for Environment Hawaii and has freelanced for Environmental Health News and the Honolulu Weekly. She was born and raised in Hawaii.

Reprinted with permission from the current issue of , a non-profit news publication. The entire issue, as well as more than 20 years of past issues, is available free to Environment Hawaii subscribers at www.environment-hawaii.org. Non-subscribers must pay $10 for a two-day pass.