Mango Pig

[doccherry]

Nic:

I've lost 20 pounds [10 to go] and can easily run 5 miles over tough terrain. Within a couple of months I hope to be able to run 7-8 over tough terrain. Heart and lungs are really working well. I am ready to go out after another wild bull, maybe toward the end of December, or even Jan or Feb. Interested in another hunt up at the headwaters of the Wailuku?

The other night my wife and I had some of the bull that we got on our hunt. Cooked it up in a stew in the crock pot. Absolutely delicious! Need another 50 pounds of beef to get us through the winter.

Let me know. Maybe Ev can make it over, too.

 

[Nic Barca]

I was talking it over with Evan and I think January would be best. Evan might move over there for some time while his wife goes to college in Hilo. Since he's moving over there in January, we figured we might as well wait till then. I'll probably be coming over quite often if everything pans out.

 

[doccherry]

Looking forward to it. Got a pig 3 nights ago in my back yard. It's been tearing up the neighbor's grass for a week now. My pig alarm [infrared sensor mounted on lava back wall, receiver in my bathroom] sounded off at about 10 PM so I scooted outside with my crossbow and light. Nice broadside shot at 15 yards or so. We eat pork now at least 2 nights a week.

Glad I'm not Jewish.

 

[Uncle Ji]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nic Barca @ Oct 30 2007, 08:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Evan might move over there for some time while his wife goes to college in Hilo.[/b]

WHOA! When did Ev get married? Ho'omaika'i Ev!

Invasive species first got to Hawaii via slow boat anywhere from a week to several weeks travel on container ships so 1 to 3 days on interisland YB barges will not kill them, they are invasive because of their tenacious ability to cling to life in harsh conditions. I recently moved to Oahu from Maui and used one 20' container and 2 G-Vans plus two vehicles and none of them were inspected before leaving Maui nor after arriving on Oahu, same thing when moving there 13 years ago, I could have loaded them up with all sorts of awful critters with nobody the wiser. I still think this invasive species via Superferry argument holds no water at least not until the state also beefs up interisland barge traffic inspections, no double standards. I don't see too many Hawaiians nor locals raising the fuss the vast majority of protesters being "immigrant" Caucasians from the Mainland US. When I lived on the "Big Island" 26+ years ago I had a HIPPY who was squating in the forest come tell me the Kalij Pheasants I was hunting was a native Hawaiian bird, and that the land I was hunting (public hunting land) was a preserve for these birds so I better leave. I straightened him out real quick then turned this idiot in to DLNR. I don't like people like this making up lies to protect their new turf, I see this happening on Kaua'i and Maui. New and different not necessarily bad, though maybe scary, I see the Superferry as just a different mode of transportation, another option especially for us locals (tourists not going to use this much) who want to visit relatives on neighbor islands. I bet most of these protesters don't even have family on neighbor islands so why should they care?

Things I do agree on better management of natural resources:
Stop commercial harvest of opihi
Better size and bag limits on the nearshore sportfish species (slot size a great idea)
Saltwater fishing license to help fund and support fisheries management (use California or Florida as models)
Reduce the non-resident license fee to more realistic levels to encourage visitors to come hunt, used to be much cheaper.
Better access to existing public lands (many of these areas landlocked by private property).
I'm sure I can come up with a few more if I think about it some.

 

[Huntr Pat]

Nic,
I hope I didn't offen you I thought that was you with the long hair. My bag.

Doc,
Good job on the weight lost.

 

[Nic Barca]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Uncle Ji @ Oct 30 2007, 11:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nic Barca @ Oct 30 2007, 08:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Evan might move over there for some time while his wife goes to college in Hilo.[/b]

WHOA! When did Ev get married? Ho'omaika'i Ev!

[/b][/quote]
Haha, no, they never got married. That's just a joke.

Uncle Ji, I'll disagree with you on some points. First of all, I'm sure we'll agree that you rarely see anyone raise a fuss about the status quo. Hense, nobody grumbles about young brothers even though they are a primary means for the spread of new pests. They have their protocols and there are the Invasive Species Committees for each island to attemp to control outbreaks. But the ferry, I will disagree on two new things: coqui frogs and ants. I lived in Hilo for two years and am well aware of how easily they spread via cars and what is placed in cars. I had a cooler that I neglegently left out in the yard with all my fishing gear in it and I opened it up a month later and to my surprize there were three coqui frogs inside. All I could think was that they must have gotten in through the cracks when young, perhaps even as eggs and grew up in there surviving on the bugs. I could have grabbed all my fishing gear, tossed it in the back of my truck, hopped on the ferry and possibly introduced them to a new area. There are frogs simply in the leaves that land in the back of the truck. We cannot expect each person to sanitize their truck. The only solution I can think of would be to give more money to the Invasive Species Commitees to help control future outbreaks. It's a simple measure which can help mitigate the problem. I don't think I need to go into how the tourism industry would be hurt if frogs are widely established throughout Hawaii. We're talking millions or billions in long term losses to the economy.

The same has to do with ants. You have a dirty car and you can potentially spread ants. Sure, cars and ants tend to go back and forth on YB all the time, and that is a present means of transporting these pests as well, but this is a huge spike in interisland automotive travel. Most cars on young brothers are also empty and quite clean. But you can grab anything from your yard and come over on the ferry. Only certain agricultural products require inspection. I personally think they should test each car witht he same protocol that they do for ag products: peanut butter baits. If Little Red Fire Ants become Established and spread to Hawaii's Agricultural areas, this is a huge threat to the state's economy.

I'ld like them to mitigate properly in the future after the EA and EIS comes out. After this, we can go after the status quo.

The next point I will disagree on is race of protesters. I was there on Kauai and people of all races and age groups were present both resident and new arivals. There was no major majority. ...Caucasions tend to be more outspoken when it comes to organized meeting. THAT I have noticed.

I totally agree with your last piece and have a lot of inovative ideas to add, including ways of improving hunting by improving food sources with trees that will shade out the understory creating ideal open forest hunting conditions, while minimizing negative effects of feral pigs on watershed function. I figure, if they have year round, stable, and diverse food sources, then they willl not dig as much. Also, if the noxious weeds ful of compacted trails can be shaded out, pigs can freely move around, and thus reductions of trail and improvements in groundwater infiltration at certain sites. Also, a year round food source could reduce migration patterns into native forests during the fruit off-seasons. The trick is using old growth trees (shade tolerant) which will grow up through and shade out or supress the noxious weeds, which tend to be disturbance colonizers and shade intolerant to some degree. Even Strawberry guava can be highly supressed. I encourage people to plant more mango and avocado, but there are dozens or hundred of species which will work. And the trees dub as good timber too, especially when they stretch for the light. Monkeypod is good. ...I got a big list and am testing them. BTW, avocado and breadfruit fruit under albizia. I got experiments going right now to see what works. I could send you my paper on the topic if you'ld like?

I'll add that I'ld really like to see slot limits on opihi too, with a yearly bag limit for opihi over the maximum size, thus still allowing for state record attempts.

 

[Uncle Ji]

If you do some research on the list of the "who's who" of protesters you'll find the vast majority are Mainlanders, rich lawyers etc. many who are only regular visitors or part time residents, I don't recall seeing a Hawaiian in the bunch.
Coqui frogs are already established on all major Hawaiian Islands for several years, like it or not they are here to stay, and many actually enjoy the chirping sounds they make. The hypothetical damage they may cause to native fauna is debatable. I've read both sides of the argument on the frogs, interesting stuff. Many feel trying to stop their spread a lost cause, and have stopped trying.
From what I gather the Fire Ants are presently found ONLY on the Hilo side of the Big Island of Hawaii in a few specific isolated locations.
http://www.hear.org/AlienSpeciesInHawaii/a...onbigisland.gif
There is currently no Superferry running to the Big Island and if it does start up it will service out of Kawaihae on the west side of island a very far distance from closest known Fire Ant colony, instead of jumping all over the Superferry these "environmentalists" should concentrate on eradicating these Fire Ants on the Big Island while they are still relatively contained, and push to get more rigid inspections started on YB barge traffic from the "Big Island". I feel the majority of Superferry opponents are using junk science, false data, and opinion based "feelings" for their own agenda.
As far as the Humpback Whales are concerned the ones that do the most damage to whales in local waters is The Pacific Whale Foundation the very environmental organization that's supposed to be protecting them, their research and whale tour boats the only ones permitted inside the whale's 100 yard safety zone with these boats on several ocassions ramming the whales, my office was at Lahaina Harbor so I heard of these collisions on a pretty regular basis though i'm sure many were hush-hush swept under the rug for obvious reasons. In contrast you never hear of the Lana'i Ferry which runs 6 round trips a day on their high speed catamaran right through the Humpback Whale calving grounds between Lahaina, Maui and Manele, Lana'i colliding with whales in their countless years of operation even using older technology prop drives. Contrary to propoganda most ships in Hawaiian waters DO NOT travel under 10 knots, cruise ships, containers ships, and military vessels (and Lana'i Ferry) cannot operate efficiently at speeds under 10 knots. The Superferry under sea trials has the fastest reaction time of any ship known with it's joy stick controls and dual jet drives (no propellors below water line) so I beleive with the additional obsevers stationed during whale season combined with the latest technology sonar & radar along with reduced speeds during this period along with the routes chosen which are less frequented by whales (north coast of Moloka'i) the risk of collision is less than most other large vessels plying the Hawaiian waters.
I firmly believe that even if there was technology to assure 100% no spread of invasive species, no risk to marine mammals, opponents would not be any less vocal than they have been, they have no concept of ALOHA and want to keep THEIR island to themselves (even though they are malihini), and I believe that is the real bottom line in this whole argument.

Nic, I like your tree planting idea, sounds very logical. One of my favorite pig hunting spots is in KAUPO on the SE end of Maui, and the canopy created by the large ancient mango & avocado trees creates a superb open area and habitat underneath preventing growth of noxious weeds, great pig hunting here, and pigs are momona eating all that ripe mango and avocados, great eating even the large 300 lb plus boars.

 

[Nic Barca]

Uncle Ji. I changed my mind. Yep, I found the same thing about fire ants since then. And I don't think they spread easily by hitching rides on vehicles and are only in a small area of the BI. They are past the point of eradication and all we can do is try to slow their spread or contain them. I think you need to transport a colony, usually in a potted plant, unless you somehow have a huge ant farm in your car, but you would know it if you did. Coqui are not nessesarily established on each island. It took a lot of effort and money but the largest outbreak on Kauai, in Lawai, is at the verge of being eradicated altogether. From time to time, new outbreaks pop up at various locations but all have been eradicated to date. True some people like the sound of the frog. Even I do when it's not 100 chirps per second! Call sombody in hilo one night and you know what I'm talking about. Now, when you live there, you get used to them and don't even notice but it sure is nice being back on Kauai where the nights are silent and all you might hear is crickets. And that's another point you helped me realize. Coqui are a kauai problem because they already are established on other islands past the point of control. Certainly, interisland vehicle travel will cause further outbreaks of these critters, especially when Big Island comes under service. But rather than singleing out a bussiness, I think a better approach is to give further support to the Kauai invasive species committee who are already controling outbreaks to prevent establishment. It would be in their best interests strategically if HSF made it clear to the people that they would donate money to KISC if outbreaks increase. I don't recall ever hearing about that, although they did work with KISC on issues of invasive species. But people I know in KISC don't seem to like the superferry either, which suggests something to me.

The protesters are just concerned citizens and in my opinion, it's a good thing that people were concerned because they had every right to be. The bussinessmen and politicians behind the ferry made many strategic blunders when it comes to dealing with concerns of the community and it cost them a lot. But hey, nobody is perfect. Mis-information, ignorance, bias, and arrogance occurs on both sides of this issue so I would never try to umbrella it to one side.

I'm not talking about the whos-whos, I'm simply giving an acount of what I saw at the docks. It's no surprize to me that mainalnd lawers took advantage of this. Your talking about potentially big changes to way of life in Hawaii. Not many people on the outer islands like that, especially since they will be getting all the downsides while a large Oahu population makes the decisions. We have an open door house and have never had to lock it. Everybody knows everybody over here. You, of all people, know how bad the crowding problem is on neighbor islands. People are at their breaking points, thus when the ferry showed up, it was a lightning rod for every issue affecting Hawaii today from dwindling natural resources to overcrowded surf spots. But again, in lieu of it all, I just use it as a way to pressure DLNR to make sustainable restrictions, increased state funding for game wardens, and beef up pest control efforts.

It's good to hear of the forest you talk of. Sounds like a perfect example backing my theories. I see the same thing all the time over here, although few large areas exist on Kauai with anything more than mango. I got pictures of breadfruit and avocado growing and fruiting under albizia, last night.

 

[Uncle Ji]

Nic, we may not agree 100% on a few issues but I look forward to a time sharing the campfire with you and talking story about the more important things like the good old days, and more importantly the future of hunting and fishing in Hawaii, and the experiances of an old fut like myself mixing with new ideas from the the younger generation like you and Ev. Seeing young people like you and Ev who care so much for the local environment gives me confidence that the future is in good hands. I'm hopeful that the ferry works out without the negatives so many fear but if it goes under so be it, i'm flexible and get plenty friends on all islands so i'll still hunt and fish everywhere I want to just without the comfort of my own truck I was hoping for. I'm hoping for a Big Island hunt in April, maybe we can all hook-up then. A hui hou, Unc Ji

 

[Nic Barca]

Well, I figured out why the people I talked to at KISC don't seem to like the superferry. The ferry people approached them as bussinessmen asking if KISC would pay for an educational sign on invasive species. That person at KISC was perhaps a little biased towards the ferry and offended and bitter that the ferry wouldn't cover the cost themselves. So they settled to half the costs. Another issue I found which I had never thought of was SMUGGLING. If somebody buys a plant on one island and wants to take it back with them to the other and don't have an ag. inspection, they'll probably try to hide it. I believe I heard that the ferry security has just 20 minutes to check each of the 200 something cars. If there are 280 cars, I think that comes out to about 40 seconds a car, which is not bad. Perhaps there should be a state appointed ag inspector or inspection dog working at the docks. Bumping up penalties for people smuggling agricultural products would probably be a really good idea. I know when I went to New Zealand, they were really strict and stern about the topic and I would never dare try it there. Should be like that here. Smuggling opens up the posibility of introducing a variety of pests to new islands, but if those pests are so common on one island, they probably would be on the other islands already. Still, nettle caterpillars are a concern. Hilo will need some sign advising smugglers to check their own plants for nettle caterpillars. Those things suck. I take it, if your plant has fire ants on it, you'll know it. Please smuggle responsibly hahahahaha

 

[Uncle Ji]

They've been smuggling illegal Chinese immigrants into the US for years in shipping containers, shipping containers are THEE WAY to go if you want to smuggle anything inter island unmolested. Over the past almost 30 years I have moved several times between several islands using YB using both G-Van mini containers as well as 20' containers so I'm talking from experience, I also have almost 20 years working for both DLNR and DOT so I know just a little about enforcement (or lack there of), and I'm telling you this smuggling argument does not hold much water in anti-superferry arguments, much easier to smuggle ANYTHING via YB Barges than the Superferry especially with the close scrutiny the Superferry will be under. Consistency is needed for both modes of transportation as far as ag inspections are concerned with stricter measures for YB since they use closed containers, and it is foolish to assume these critters can't survive a couple days in inter island containers when these critters first got here in containers from overseas Asia and the Americas after several WEEKS of travel. I think way too many people let emotions get in the way of logic on these matters.