When William Aila was a boy growing up in Wai'anae, no commercial ocean tourism existed in the waters off the coast.

For many generations Hawaiian fishermen had the shoreline and an abundance of akule to themselves. All that began to change in the 1980s and '90s, as commercial scuba dive outfits and dolphin tour boats capitalized on a growing tourism industry.

Local fishermen complained that the increased activity disrupted their traditional fishing grounds. Conflicts arose. Eventually, local users and tour boat operators came to a "gentlemen's agreement" that was generally followed by both sides.

Since then, additional commercial users have entered the area with little knowledge of the agreement. At the same time, residents and environmental groups questioned how much commercial activity the waters off Wai'anae could accommodate.

This month, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources released a $25,000 report called the West O'ahu Ocean Operational Protocols, or WOOOP, with recommendations the DLNR believes will ease the tensions.

Today, Aila finds himself in a peculiar position. As the coast's harbor master for the state and a DLNR employee, Aila sees merit in the WOOOP report.

"It is a good study," he said. "And the attempts that were made to contact all of the users and identify all of the conflicts that are occurring resulted in good information."

However, as a lifelong resident and local fisherman, Aila understands and shares the community's apprehensions, too.

"When I wear that hat, I think the report falls very short of what the community wants from DLNR," Aila said.

What the community wants, he contends, is a comprehensive environmental study of the waters off the Wai'anae Coast. Those who see the WOOOP study as an alternative to conducting such a study are suspicious, he said.

State Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, D-45th (Wai'anae, Makaha) agreed with Aila that the community puts a high priority on making sure its coastal resources aren't depleted and that nothing is done to harm Wai'anae's fragile shores and surrounding waters.

That was the intent of legislation passed last year authorizing a baseline environmental study along the Wai'anae Coast and establishing a moratorium on any new commercial vessel permits in the area until the study is completed.

That measure was vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle, but her veto was overridden and the measure passed into law.

A bill to appropriate $1 million to pay for the environmental study passed through the Senate this year, and a similar bill is moving through the House.

Shimabukuro doesn't think the report and last year's law mandating an environmental study are in conflict. Like the law, the report included input from the Wai'anae Coast community, she said.

"I would hope that the two can come together for a happy conclusion," she said.

Together, WOOOP and the law could relieve conflicts and misunderstandings between dive and tour boat operators, and Wai'anae Coast fishers, in her opinion.

But Peter Young, chairman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, is not as enthusiastic about the environmental study law as is Shimabukuro.

"We do have a little difference of opinion on that," he said. "A lot of it comes from consultants or potential consultants about whether they could write a study based on the directives in the law."

The law stipulates that the study be conducted in a manner similar to an environmental impact statement. And that, Young said, presents a problem.

"One of the basic premises of an environmental impact statement is that you're evaluating the impact of a particular use, or development or activity," he said. "And in this case, there is no particular use, or development, or activity."

There's only a general concern about how a number of different commercial activities could affect the environment, he said.

However, Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), said Young needs to re-read the law.

"This is not an impact study," Hanabusa said. "This is a baseline environmental study that has 17 components that have to be addressed to satisfy the law."

Those components should cover any type of commercial activity that might be introduced along the coast, she said.

"That's exactly why he testified that such a study would cost a million dollars, and that's exactly the reason why this year we went in for appropriation for the million dollars."

According to Young, an environmental study is a long-term process that will take years. In contrast, he said the WOOOP report is a way to immediately address and prevent user conflicts along the Wai'anae Coast.

For now, Young expects to present the WOOOP recommendations to the various user groups to hear their thoughts on them.

"For the short term, and while any environmental study is being conducted, we need to implement something immediately, and that's why we moved forward with our plan.

"The community process is far from over."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.