WAILUKU - Bills to provide property tax exemptions for Native Hawaiians with kuleana lands and a ban on shark tours both passed final reading Friday by the Maui County Council.

Council Member Jo Anne Johnson said that the bill prohibiting shark tour operations in Maui County was a matter of respect for Native Hawaiians who consider the animals sacred, and was a safety issue since it often involves using dead fish parts to attract the predators, potentially changing sharks' natural behavior.

The shark ban passed unanimously, said Council Member Mike Victorino.

Shark tours do not currently exist in Maui County, but there are some on Oahu.

"We're not Oahu," Johnson said.

While the county government doesn't have authority over activities that happen off-shore, the bill would regulate the business side of shark tours, prohibiting any business from operating in Maui County that charges customers to enter the ocean to feed or attract sharks for viewing.

The kuleana tax exemption bill also passed without a single "no" vote, Victorino said.

Both bills now await Mayor Charmaine Tavares' signature before becoming laws.

The kuleana bill exempts from property taxes all kuleana lands, except those used for commercial purposes.

The bill is aimed at helping Native Hawaiians hold on to kuleana lands passed down through generations since the 1850s. The Kuleana Act of 1850 allowed commoners in Hawaii to apply for title to the land they lived on and farmed.

Under the bill, a property would have to be owned at least in part by a direct descendant of the person who originally received title to the land in order to receive the tax exemption.

Retired 2nd Circuit Judge Boyd Mossman previously testified on behalf of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and said that the number of people and lands affected was small and would not adversely affect county revenues.

Mossman said other counties in the state have already approved similar property tax exemptions.