Hawaiian Collection Legislation

[mrcrab]

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.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

Hey MrCrab, not that I wantato pay more for fish but this bill shouldnt be shut down, if the state of Hawaii thinks that its tropical fish are in danger. Otherwise the reefs of Hawaii might be looking as dead as the reefs in Florida.

 

[mrcrab]

I have no dog in this fight. A friend of mine LFS owner asked me to pass it on. The only thing I see that's a bit alarming is that they don't seem to have information that they are basing this legislation on.

Wow the government enacting legislation without knowing what the heck they're talking about...what a concept.

 

[mrcrab]

.

 

[saltysupply]

Sounds like something that is in the best interest of the reefs....reef check has been taking numbers on aquarium collection and we are putting a dent in the reefs around the world, its time to start looking more into aquaculture

i'd pay $100 for a yellow tang

 

[mrcrab]

I don't disagree that aquaculture is the way to go but we haven't got to the point where we can produce many species that we keep. Maybe the time money and energy associated with this govenment control would be better spent on research.

 

[chrisstie]

Does anyone else find it ironic that they misspelled "corallivore" ?

In all honesty, I think I would support this bill, but people petitioning it would make a bigger dent to this particular senator's office I think if they lived in Hawaii. The ones actually involved in the trade and collection whose livleyhoods may be at stake speaking out may do more.

I just posted in my blog about the irony attached to reef keeping. People are starting to look into buying aquacultured fish and corals, yet keep big tanks and run 1200W+ of lighting when there are just cleaner and more efficient ways of doing so. In that respect they are helping the environment one way, while hurting it another.

I got the e-mails passed around and all the media spreading this act to create a bill but there isn't any context for it set forth by the Hawaiian government. Even if their own research hasn't been put forth, if they are trying to impact the environment now before fish numbers decline, it would be much less of an impact on the aquarium industry and give a greater chance for fishy numbers to stay consistent rather than face decline.

I don't know. I guess it's something we'll just have to watch and see what happens.

 

[AquaKnight]

I just finished reading the 3 page thread on this in reef fishes, and this bill NO sense.

Some quick facts I remember, out of the 60 islands of Hawaii, only 6 of them have areas where collection is allowed. Then on each of the allowed islands, they have only partial collection spots, allowing the fish to repopulate in the banned areas. It does effect transshipment from Christmas and Marshall islands because the collector must be present in Hawaii at customs when the shipment passes through. Also, mentioned was that collectors 'leave the breeders' of fish to repopulate. The numbers of fish year to year is dependent on a number of things, el nino, the weather, pollution, etc.

What mrcrab posted is the actual bill. It's horribly written and IMO seems driven by non-native dive shop to preserve "the pretty fish." Like I just mentioned there are a number of current regulation in place. This is just an overcorrection from like of information. I've tried to find number's and statics on either side of the agrument, but nothing.

I'm all for conservation and protect, but Hawaii is one of our least worries. If we really wanting to start, investigating what 'goes on' in the Indo-Pacific where there's little to no regulations should be priority #1.

 

[JUICE!]

I agree......but then again......we don't make the laws there....we make the laws here......and we try to lead by example.

 

[Nanook]

This topic has been posted on many sub-forums here and perhaps it would be best to discuss on this same topic in `Responsible Reefkeeping'.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...hreadid=1306550