SB 1240 on aquarium fishing should be vetoed

Nobody can disagree that we need sustainable policies and practices. Indeed, that’s fundamental to all programs in the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).

The West Hawaii Fishery Replenishment Areas (FRAs) were established two decades ago to reverse the declines in Kona aquarium fish — about 80 percent of Hawaii’s catch — by prohibiting collection in a third of the Kona coast, with a substantial monitoring plan put in place.

The results have been textbook: the FRAs have improved aquarium fish populations both within and outside the protected areas due to the “spillover” effect: protected fish are able to grow to full mature reproductive potential, repopulating the fish stocks in and outside the FRAs.

The DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) has collected data for over 17 years from over 6,700 surveys and found that aquarium fish populations are generally stable or increasing in West Hawaii. The populations of yellow tang and kole, the two most heavily collected species, are not declining, and in recent years have increased in both protected and open areas, notwithstanding fishing in open areas.

We don’t have extensive survey data around Oahu, the only other place in Hawaii where aquarium fish are caught and sold — about 20 percent of the aquarium fishery).

So we use a proxy data set, commercial catch rates over time, which have remained relatively constant, to provide a level of comfort on sustainability, while we also work to incorporate more recent monitoring data into our overall analysis.

It is quite a different story with “resource” fish, the fish we eat — which are over 90 percent of the fish caught in Hawaii. Most of those species are decreasing dramatically statewide for various reasons, not the least of which is overfishing. The decrease in the abundance of large herbivores, such as uhu (parrot fish), is particularly alarming. They are critically important to the health of reefs because they eat lots of algae off coral and leave gouges that serve as ideal substrate for the growth of new corals. The populations of unprotected pakuikui or Achilles tang have plummeted in Kona. We are deeply concerned for the sustainability of our food fish.

Senate Bill 1240 does not prohibit aquarium fishing. It simply prohibits new permits to use small meshed nets and traps, which are important to collectors, in hopes that the industry will eventually die by attrition, which would take decades as proposed. There are numerous technical problems with SB 1240, such as provisions for permit transfers not currently allowed, safety issues and “catch limits” that would take years of data and millions of dollars to establish. SB 1240 is designed to allow business as usual for at least five years.

If aquarium fishing is opposed on philosophical grounds, the bill should just say so; many would agree. But SB 1240 restricts aquarium fishing on purported scientific grounds, which simply ignores the actual science.

To review it yourself, see the 2014 report to the Legislature on the findings and recommendations of effectiveness of the West Hawaii Regional Fishery Management Area: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/files/2015/01/ar_hrs188_2015.pdf.

DLNR has previously worked on legislative and regulatory proposals for a “limited entry” aquarium fishery. These programs have proven successful in Florida. We could expand replenishment areas to Oahu and elsewhere, cap permit numbers, and establish significant permit fees.

DLNR is committed to work with proponents of SB 1240, industry representatives and legislators to prioritize actions, mechanisms and funding to better monitor and manage the fishery.

DLNR aims to establish in Hawaii the best managed sustainable near-shore fisheries in the world, and to restore our reef fish for the good of all.

Suzanne Case is director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.