The Board of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 October 2014 approval of aquarium fishing rules for O`ahu came with a request that the Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 Division of Aquatic Resources begin a discussion among stakeholders on what sustainability means with regard to Hawai`i\u2019s fisheries. The division was supposed to have reported back to the board in April, but wound up doing so in late July.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still not ready to provide the board with a full detailed explanation\u201d of what sustainability means, said DAR acting administrator Alton Miyasaka.<\/p>\n
Even so, he said he brought the matter to the Land Board at its July 24 meeting because he wanted to acknowledge the board\u2019s initial request.<\/p>\n
Testimony by Inga Gibson of the Hawaii Humane Society suggested that the lack of progress was due, in part, to the inclusion of aquarium collectors in the stakeholder meetings.<\/p>\n
As background, she told the Land Board that 98 percent of the testimony received back in October opposed the aquarium fishing rules for O`ahu. She argued that they were not based on science or broad stakeholder input.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe collectors approached the department that this was something they wanted to see,\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n
Gibson said the stakeholder meetings were an opportunity for opponents like her to let their voices be heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did not feel we were part of the process,\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n
But at the first meeting after the board vote last year, \u201cwe came into that meeting with the most optimism to move it forward [but] nothing was accomplished. We were not aware the collectors were going to be there,\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n
She asked that the Land Board allow DAR to continue the meetings to help the division clearly define what sustainable means and what its management objectives are for aquarium species.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking about more than 200 species collected for the aquarium trade,\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n
Citing testimony from Chaminade University professor Gail Grabowski, Gibson added that the industry has never been subject to any kind of environmental review, but should be.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn seeking out what is sustainable \u2026it\u2019s gonna require an environmental review,\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n
She concluded that, sustainable or not, aquarium fish collecting is wasteful and disrespectful.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp to 40 percent of these animals die before they reach a tank in Maryland or wherever,\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n
Land Board chair and DLNR director Suzanne Case, however, seemed to want to stick to the topic of sustainability and cited research that suggests that the fishery could be sustainable. She recalled that more than five years of catch data from West Hawai`i \u2014where about a third of the coastline is protected from aquarium fish collecting \u2014show that the protected areas keep populations of aquarium fish going.<\/p>\n
Given that, she asked Gibson, \u201cWhat\u2019s your baseline for what\u2019s sustainable? There are various statistics of what\u2019s happened over the last 100 years. \u2026\u00a0 Fisheries have gone down a huge amount over the last 100 years. \u2026\u00a0 Are you trying to keep it at this level or restore it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Case said she hoped those were questions that could be addressed during future stakeholder meetings.<\/p>\n
— Teresa Dawson<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Volume 25, Number 3 September 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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