Boater who abandoned scuba divers in open water fined $272,000, Hawaii officials say

A Hawaii couple is facing $272,000 in fines for an illegal aquarium fishing incident that “achieved a level of notoriety” when the boat abandoned two divers in open water last summer, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources reports.

The two women divers found their way to land, even as a rescue operation was being launched, the department noted in a Facebook post.

Hawaii wildlife officials announced Friday that husband and wife Stephen Howard and Yukako Toriyama were assessed the “record” setting fine in connection with multiple fishing and boating violations related to the Sept. 15 incident at Kona, the news release said.

Conservation and Resource Enforcement investigators say a tipster led officers to Howard, “a known aquarium collector,” as he was anchored in the “West Hawaii Regional Fishery Management Area,” the release says.

“This case achieved a lot of notoriety, as Howard left two women divers underwater in open water during the incident,” state officials said in the release.

“One was (his wife) Toriyama. The other woman told DOCARE investigators that Howard had dropped them to dive and collect fish, and when they surfaced, he and his boat were gone. The absence of the divers on Howard’s boat, after he had been ordered by enforcement officers back to shore, prompted a multi-agency marine search and rescue operation,” the release said.

That operation was called off when the divers were later found “with their dive gear, at a Kona-area gas station,” the release said.

Investigators say officers found “235 fish of 10 different species” had been caught in the operation, with a retail value of more than $24,000, the release said. “All of the fish were returned to the ocean,” the release said.

The couple face additional criminal charges in Hawaii District Court, state officials said.

“The Land Board is obviously taking a strong stance against the illegal harvest of aquarium fish,” BLNR Chair Suzanne Case said in the release. “I hope anyone engaged in illegally depleting Hawaii’s natural resources will realize the cost of breaking the law, based on the high fines levied in this case.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 1:20 PM with the headline "Boater who abandoned scuba divers in open water fined $272,000, Hawaii officials say."