As everything in the world goes, its all dependent on the all mighty dollar. An all out ban would then create a large black market for all of the Hawaiian fish. If somebody is willing to pay the price for it, somebody will be willing to take the risk to go collect it. With black market collection, there will be zero regulations and morality of the collector would just be a joke. Rather than an all out ban, strict regulations that allow the fish population to not only remain sustainable, but increase would be the better option. That way people can still make their living, the supply / demand curve would cause cost of the fish to rise so the collector would be able to make the same living collecting less fish and the collection methods would be able to be regulated and remain humane. Back in the 1920's the US tried to ban this stuff called booze, that led to organized crime, economic hardship for thousands in the industry, the formulation of NASCAR, and ultimately in 1933 was decided that the ban on booze failed miserably. That is an apples to oranges comparison, but the basic idea is the same. Ban something, if people are willing to pay, people will be willing to break the law to provide. Regulate the ever living crap out of it and it can be made better than sustainable and remain humane and keep the illegal collection out because there would be no financial gain for the illegal risk.
