Hawaiian collection legislation

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mrcrab

In Memoriam
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/SB3225_.htm

Aloha all, The Hawaii Legislature is considering to pass a bill that will limit aquarium fish collection in Hawaii to 20 fish per collector per person with a maximum of 5 yellow tangs per day. The bill also will put a no take cap on angels, butterflies, boxfish, puffers,eels and many other species. The passage of this bill will essentially shut down the tropical fish industry in Hawaii which will include the transhipped items from Christmas Island and Marshall Islands. Please forward this to everyone in the industry because if we don't stop this bill, next year, yellow tangs may wholesale at $100 each.


Let's try this :

Regarding Senate Bill 3225 SB3225



Everyone including all businesses, employees, divers, parents, kids, brothers and sisters, friends, and everyone involved in this industry -



JAN. 28-29th FROM EARLY IN THE MORNING TO LATE AFTERNOON, CALL SEN. CLAYTON HEE'S OFFICE AT 808-586-7330 AND WHEN ASKED BY HIS OFFICE STAFF - LEAVE YOUR FULL NAME - ( FIRST AND LAST NAME ), AND PHONE NUMBER, AND VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TO SB3225. IF WE CAN GET 500+ PHONE CALLS INTO HIS OFFICE, WE CAN SHOW THERE IS VERY STRONG OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL . IT'S POSSIBLE THAT HE MIGHT SHELVE THIS BILL. WE NEED TO TIE UP HIS PHONE WITH OUR CALLS. THEN TOMORROW NIGHT, FAX SENATOR HEE YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL ALSO. ( FAX NUMBER 808-586-7334 ) THIS WAY, WHEN HIS STAFF COMES IN ON TUESDAY MORNING, THERE WILL BE FAXES ALL OVER HIS OFFICE FLOOR.



WE NEED TO OVERWHELM HIM WITH CALLS AND FAXES VOICING OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL.


Jovi Z. Macatugal

Sea Dwelling Creatures, Inc.


Report Title:

Fishing; Ornamental Fish; Bag Limits; No Take Category; Appropriation



Description:

Imposes bag limits on certain ornamental fish; prohibits catching of certain ornamental fish; appropriation






THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
3225

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008


STATE OF HAWAII










A BILL FOR AN ACT





RELATING TO FISHING.





BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:






SECTION 1. Chapter 188, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§188- Ornamental fish; bag limit; prohibition; yellow tang stock assessment. (a) There shall be a combined bag limit of twenty fish per person per day of ornamental fish, including but not limited to, yellow tang, flame angels, and butterfly; provided that the combined bag limit may include a maximum of only five yellow tang. No person shall catch, net, or trap more than the bag limit. The department of land and natural resources shall formulate an annual stock assessment of the yellow tang, beginning September 1, 2008, based upon data existing as of that date to provide an estimated inventory for preservation purposes; provided that the assessment shall be made publicly available.

(b) No person shall catch, net, or trap certain ornamental fish in a no-take category, including but not limited to, all puffer fish, all box fish, potter's angel, cleaner wrasse, all coralvores, and all eels.

(c) For purposes of this section, the term "ornamental fish" means salt water fish, usually found in or around reefs, that are commonly kept in aquariums.

(d) The department of land and natural resources shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 for purposes of this section, including adding other types of ornamental fish."

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $100,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 for the yellow tang fish stock assessment as provided in section 1 of this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 2 shall take effect on July 1, 2008.
 
Is there anywhere to actually read what the status of the yellow tang and other fishes from Hawaii is in regards to sustainability including the exploitation for our hobby??? I would really like to read something like that to be better informed before flooding people with phone calls. I see a yellow tang stock assessment, Sept.2008 but a Google search didn't yield much information. Any members from Hawaii on board want to speak up with thoughts?
 
I don't see how this legislation would stop trans-shipping from the Marshall Islands and Christmas Island, since it appears that the legislation only affects Hawaiin collectors. The other two are independent countries. "Bag limit" isn't the same as possession limit, it's the number of animals you may have in the field or on your way home from collecting, right? If the legislation does actually stop trans-shipping from Christmas Island, it's going to do some serious damage to the economy there.

I wonder if there is scientific evidence of the listed species being in enough danger to support a moratorium on their collection, or is this just another case of someone deciding to "protect" something based on emotion, whether it's endangered or not?

Cheers,


Don
 
Don't know. I have no dog in this fight. A local LFS owner, friend of mine, asked me to pass it on. I'd suggest you do your own research and make your own conclusions.

From the wording of the bill; "The department of land and natural resources shall formulate an annual stock assessment of the yellow tang, beginning September 1, 2008, based upon data existing as of that date to provide an estimated inventory for preservation purposes; provided that the assessment shall be made publicly available."

I'm not sure if they actually have any hard facts that they are basing this on.
 
Can't say I argue with limiting yellow tangs. They are one of the most abused fishes in this hobby.
I'm with the others though, I'd like to know more information before taking a stand. I'm sure something like this could have more far-reaching repurcussions than the short-sighted reaction most people (myself included) will have.
 
I agree this is a great idea.

We need to find ways breed these fish. I think that it is more then possible, if in a tank large enough. One of these wholesalers, who is making an insane ammount of money should start a million gallon plus tank to bred Tangs, Butterfly fish etc. Long Term, I beleive it would be cheaper and we would be getting a better product.

Collection of fish that are already possible to breed should be outlawed world wide (Clown Fish, Cardinal Fish, etc).

Just my 2 cents.
 
I'm not entirely opposed to this bill, and let's face it, over the next 10 years I'd imagine we're going to see more and more restrictions on collection like this.


Captive bred, tank raised, aquacultured people need to step up their game.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11714865#post11714865 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phenom5
Captive bred, tank raised, aquacultured people need to step up their game.

It has to make economical sense for them.
 
I just replied to this in the responsible reefkeeping forum, so I'll just paste what I said there:

Well, maybe this legislation is needed? Honestly, I can do without all of those fish as a lot of them aren't very good aquarium fish anyway. And, maybe yellow tangs should be $100 wholesale, it will keep all the noobs from throwing them in 55 gallon tanks.

I have one question though, when they say "coralvores", does that include any fish that eats coral? So, almost all angels would be under a total ban?
 
I support restrictions but not out right bans.....If I want a snowflake eel I should be able to purchase one (even if it costs $500)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11714376#post11714376 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pagojoe
I wonder if there is scientific evidence of the listed species being in enough danger to support a moratorium on their collection, or is this just another case of someone deciding to "protect" something based on emotion, whether it's endangered or not?

Cheers,

Don

I hear ya, but at the same time - if you're going to err, I'd say erring to the side of conservation is better, right? I'm not high & mighty and have bought tons of fish over the years but I have no problem with them limiting collection. This is just a hobby and it shouldn't be at the expense of our reefs.

Besides - true reefers here on RC will be fine. We might change a few stocking practices, what this will REALLY do is drive down the amount of INEVITABLE/SURE deaths of thousands of yellow tangs sold at Petco and other terribly run LFS around the US.

OK, I'm unsubscribing since I figure this thread will be a mile long. :lol:
 
I also am in total agreement with this legislation. Without restrictions, I fear that the hobby will end up killing itself from overcollection.

The reason that nobody has done real research with captive-bred fish is that there is no incentive to, as wholesalers without collection restrictions can provide wild caught fish much cheaper than can be economical for a breeder. Just taking a quick look at my latest wholesaler list from Indonesia, I'm seeing angels, butterflies, and fairy wrasses for $2-$5 USD each, because these collectors can sell as much as they can catch.

Short term, the restrictions will end up hurting the hobby due to increased prices, but something needs to be done to protect the reefs and provide incentives to try and breed these species in captivity.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11715064#post11715064 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ryan_paskadi
I support restrictions but not out right bans.....If I want a snowflake eel I should be able to purchase one (even if it costs $500)

This is exactly the problem...Why do people feel they have the RIGHT to "own" any creature they like?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11715142#post11715142 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinpsmith
This is exactly the problem...Why do people feel they have the RIGHT to "own" any creature they like?

Agreed.
 
I have to say I'm in favor of limits and restrictions, if they can be justified. However, I don't believe there is a fish in the sea whose sustainable harvest level is ZERO. If it's one per person, per year, that's totally different than saying "no eels, no puffers." Before you all jump on the bandwagon with your pigtails flying, you might consider that total bans on a substantial number of aquarium species my be a step toward banning collecting, period. Don't kid yourself by thinking the hobby can be sustained entirely by aquaculture and captive breeding. If Hawaii moved to ban fish collection, followed by Kiribati, the Phillipines, and the other Pacific countries one after another, it wouldn't be long before you'd all be stocking your reef tanks with goldfish and dead rock, like mine. Use caution.

Cheers,



Don
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11715267#post11715267 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pagojoe
I have to say I'm in favor of limits and restrictions, if they can be justified. However, I don't believe there is a fish in the sea whose sustainable harvest level is ZERO. If it's one per person, per year, that's totally different than saying "no eels, no puffers." Before you all jump on the bandwagon with your pigtails flying, you might consider that total bans on a substantial number of aquarium species my be a step toward banning collecting, period. Don't kid yourself by thinking the hobby can be sustained entirely by aquaculture and captive breeding. If Hawaii moved to ban fish collection, followed by Kiribati, the Phillipines, and the other Pacific countries one after another, it wouldn't be long before you'd all be stocking your reef tanks with goldfish and dead rock, like mine. Use caution.

Cheers,



Don

And if at some point, outright bans are needed (which is not too far fetched with the direction our oceans are going), then I will support that too if there is good reason. Why wait until the fish are endangered or threatened to protect them. It needs to be done much sooner. Bangaii Cardinals are a perfect example. They can be bred in captivity but many of the fish in question cannot. Caution is exactly what is needed.
 
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