A fishing ban at the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District that has been in effect for five years could end if the North Shore Neighborhood Board gets its way.

The panel voted recently to reopen the area to fishermen during the akule season but to ban all commercial activities there.

The vote, 9-1-3, surprised many people who attended the Jan. 30 meeting, said Neil Kanemoto, with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Group.

Whether the area will open is up to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which has jurisdiction over the district and asked the board for its opinion. Now the DLNR must decide what it will do.