Crews began dredging work Tuesday to restore access to the lava-blocked Pohoiki Boat Ramp, eight years after lava from Kilauea surrounded it and rendered it unusable.


What You Need To Know

  • Pohoiki Boat Ramp is expected to be cleared of about 42,000 cubic yards of black sand and boulders by November

  • Finn McCall, the head engineer with the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, acknowledged it took a long time to secure funding for the project

  • Eventually, State Senator Joy San Buenaventura and state Representative Greggor Ilagan helped secure $5.4 million of state funding for the dredging

  • The total project costs $9.28 million and DOBOR’s Boating Special Fund will be used to cover the $2.9 million shortfall

Officials joined with community members for a blessing at the top of the ramp, which is expected to be cleared of about 42,000 cubic yards of black sand and boulders by November. 

DLNR Chair Dawn Chang, speaking before the blessing, said, “The Pohoiki Boat Ramp is a piko, or focal point for this community. Fishing is a huge part of the greater Puna community and commercial, recreational and subsistence fishers have been waiting patiently for this work to begin. The million-dollar question is what took so long?”

Finn McCall, the head engineer with the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, said in a news release the delay was caused by a lack of federal support; The Federal Emergency Management Agency was only able to approve restoration of the boat ramp entrance channel.

Eventually, State Senator Joy San Buenaventura and state Representative Greggor Ilagan helped secure $5.4 million of state funding for the dredging. The total project costs $9.28 million, and DOBOR’s Boating Special Fund, which derives its funds from boating user fees, will be utilized to cover the $2.9 million shortfall.  

During the blessing ceremony, Sen. San Buenaventura said, “We needed people to understand how much it cost in fuel just to bring all our boats from the Wailoa Small Boat Harbor in Hilo, the nearest boating facility, out to Puna to they could fish to feed and support their families.”

Community members wrote Chang and said they were frustrated that they had to give up their generational livelihoods of fishing because it became too expensive. 

Limtiaco Consulting was hired as the consultant and Goodfellows Bros. Inc. as the contractor. The contractor has nine months to complete the project, but expects to finish in November.