PART IV. HAWAII SMALL FISHING VESSEL LOAN PROGRAM

 

Note

 

  Part heading amended by L 1976, c 70, pt of §2.

 

§189-41  Findings and purpose.  Thepurpose of this part is to insure the continued orderly development of Hawaii'ssmall commercial fishing vessel fleet by providing financial assistance for themaintenance and repair of small commercial fishing vessels in order to increaseproductivity in traditional state fishing grounds and to foster development ofnew fishing grounds by Hawaii's small commercial fishing vessels.  Thelegislature finds that:  (1) the several financial assistance programsavailable to Hawaii's commercial marine licensees are primarily for new vesselconstruction with national agency program emphasis on large fishing vessels;(2) that the large majority of Hawaii's commercial fishing vessels are smallvessels (under 5 net tons, i.e., under 31 feet long) whose owners often do nothave the financial resources of the larger vessels; (3) there is no financialprogram specializing in providing financial assistance for the maintenance andrepair of smaller commercial fishing vessels; (4) that the nature of commercialfishing is noted for occasional poor years when reduced landings adverselyaffect the economic resources of commercial marine licensees, especially thosewith the smaller vessels; (5) that the recently released report "Hawaiiand the Sea - 1974" calls for further development of measures tostrengthen Hawaii's commercial fishing fleet, for example, by expanding the presentHawaii Fisheries New Vessel Construction Loan Program (Act 193, Session Laws ofHawaii 1965, as amended by Act 28, Session Laws of Hawaii 1968); (6) that theHawaii Fisheries New Vessel Construction Loan Program does not includemaintenance and repair of small commercial fishing vessels; (7) that thecreation of a maintenance and repair loan program would help fulfill the intentof "Hawaii and the Sea -1974"; (8) that some usually efficientcommercial marine licensees, due to the above reasons, are unable to upgradetheir vessels in order to take advantage of new fishing gear and technology;and (9) that the State of Hawaii should make every effort to strengthen itssmall commercial fishing vessel fleet. [L 1975, c 167, §7; am L 1976, c 70, ptof §2; gen ch 1993]