The first of two important fishing bills limiting the rapacious
harvesting of Hawaii's exotic reef fish by international aquarium
collectors will be heard before the Senate Water & Land Committee,
Senator Clayton Hee, Chair on Monday, 2:30, Room 414 Supporters of
this important bill will hold a press conference (below) at 12:30 at
the Queen Lili`uokalani statue. Representatives of the Maui County
Mayor Charmaine Tavares' office, Hawaii Audubon, KAHEA, the Marine
Conservation Biology Institute, the Big Island Invasive Species
Committee and others will participate. The media release text follows.
If at all possible, please consider submitting testimony and attending.
READ SB 3225 hearing notice at: www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/
hearingnotices/WTL-TIA-ENE-JDL-IGM_02-11-08_.htm
READ HB3330 at: www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/HB3330_.htm
READ SB3225 at: www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/SB3225_.htm
SAMPLE ADDRESSING FOR TESTIMONY
Committee on Water & Land
Senator Clayton Hee, Chair
Senator Russell S. Kokubun, Vice Chair
Testimony for 2:30 p.m. Monday, February 11, 2008
Conference Room 414
Aloha Chair Hee, Vice Chair Kokubun, and Honorable Committee Members,
My name is Jane Doe and my testimony is in support of SB 3225. [YOUR
BRIEF REASONS HERE].
Sincerely,
Jane Doe
808-xxx-xxxx
HOW TO TRANSMIT TESTIMONY
In person: 1 copy to the committee clerk, Room 228, State Capitol.
By fax: Testimony (less than 5 pages), to the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms
Office at 586-6659 or 1-800-586-6659 (toll free for neighbor
islands), at least 24 hours prior to the hearing.
By Email: Testimony may be emailed (less than 5 pages) to the
Legislature's Public Access Room at testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov.
Indicate which committee the testimony is being submitted and the
date and time of the hearing. Email sent to individual offices or any
other Senate office will not be accepted.
MEDIA RELEASE (text)
CONTACT: JOAN LLOYD - 808-269-0102 - joanl@snorkelbob.com
AQUARIUM FISH BILL WOULD LIMIT RAPACIOUS COMMERCIAL EXTRACTIONS
Hawaii's Reefs Are Being Picked Clean of Fragile "Ornamental" Fish By
International Dealers
OAHU, HAWAI`I: JANUARY 8, 2008 — Supporters of two aquarium bills,
Senate Bill 3225 and House Bill 3330, will hold a press conference at
the State Capitol on Monday, February 11 at 12:30 at the Queen
Lili`uokalani statue. The bill will be heard before the Senate Water
& Land Committee on Monday, 2:30, room 414. The two bills propose
bag limits for aquarium collectors of 20 "ornamental" fish per day
per person, with five Yellow Tangs
Ko'olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club will be at the press conference to
take questions on their views regarding aquarium collection in
Kane'ohe Bay. Representatives of the Maui County Mayor Charmaine
Tavares' office, Hawaii Audubon, KAHEA, the Marine Conservation
Biology Institute and the Big Island Invasive Species Committee and
others will also participate.
Robert Wintner, Executive Director of the Snorkel Bob Foundation
said, "Our reef fish are being poached in record numbers with
millions being exported and sold annually to European, Australian,
and U.S. mainland collectors." Supporters will show that massive
extraction for commercial gain and the resulting barren reefs are an
affront to the Hawaiian way.
The aquarium industry reports a catch of $1-2 million, though the
estimated poached catch may push gross revenue to $20 million.
Wintner noted, "That's serious money for this small group of people.
Water-based tourism generates 500 times that amount for thousands of
people working in the engine that drives Hawaii's economy. Aquarium
collecting leaves many of our fragile reefs picked clean and our reef
systems should not be considered ‘fisheries'". Wintner also said the
bill lists certain species as "no-take", because they are known to
starve to death in captivity. Still, they are being taken. "This
industry has never been regulated in its catch and we are now being
asked why Puffers
not be taken" Wintner said. "A Puffer on a reef may be enjoyed by
hundreds or thousands of tourists — or that Puffer may be captured
and shipped out for a sad, short life and a dollar. A dollar. You
want to talk science, or plain common sense?"
"One source of opposition to this fish bill is an aquarium
collector's chat room in Utah. Wholesale clients were urged to clog
the email & phone lines of Hawai`i legislators by a wholesale
distributor of wild reef fish and ‘responsibly collected wild
corals'. This distributor is in Utah. If you go to coralplanet.com
you'll be asked for your personal information for referral to a
reseller. If you want to be a reseller, you'll be told: ‘We currently
have more customers than we can handle.'" "Obviously, we're not here
to safeguard the economy of Utah — or of France or Australia,"
Wintner said. "We're here for Hawai`i. A few weeks ago, we saw a gala
event on O`ahu, hailing the International Year of the Reef. Because
we love and cherish our living reefs, we must begin to defend our
reefs from exploitation. We recognize our reefs with Aloha, as the
place where life began."
Read HB3330 at: www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/HB3330_.htm
Read SB3225 at: www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/SB3225_.htm
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