Hunters will be able to take more feral pigs more frequently in certain Puna forest reserves under new regulations passed Friday by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
The new rules increase the daily bag limits within the Nanawale, Malama Ki and Keauohana forest reserves in Puna from two to four pigs per hunter and allow hunting in those reserves every day.
The regulations are temporary, and will only be in place for two years, although the state could extend them by one year at a time. The rule change will take effect Monday, Jan. 23.
Hawaiian Shores resident Jeff Sargent on Friday urged the board to pass the rule change.
“It seems like in the past few years, there’s been a rapid increase in the number of pigs in the forest area,” Sargent said, adding that some residents have speculated that the 2018 Kilauea eruption disrupted the pigs’ foraging behavior.
“These feral pigs spill over into residential yards, and they do cause very serious damage,” he said. “I and my neighbors have had our vegetable gardens destroyed … even though some folks have fenced-in areas, these pigs manage to find a way to push their way through the fences.”
Sargent estimated that pigs have caused about $1,000 in damage just among his immediate neighbors, and said that individual anti-pig measures like better fencing are too expensive for many people to implement across their entire properties.
“It seems like they can’t find what they’re looking for in the forest, and so they like the buffet in our neighborhood,” Sargent said.
After listening to Sargent’s testimony, the board unanimously voted to pass the new regulations.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.