Ige vetoes restrictions on aquarium fishing

Gov. David Ige used his veto pen to reject 13 bills Tuesday, including a measure that would have limited and eventually shut down the aquarium fish collecting trade in Hawaii.

Ige said thousands of people sent emails or called the state Capitol to support Senate Bill 1240 to limit the harvesting of aquarium fish from Hawaii reefs. Although he rejected the bill, Ige said he and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources will develop better solutions.

Those might include restricting access to some fisheries to allow replenishment of fish populations, limiting the number of aquarium fishing permits and imposing new fees and catch limits, he said.

“We are committed to introducing legislation next session that will properly address all concerns, and create policy that will establish Hawaii as a model (of) sustainable near-shore fishery management in the world,” Ige said.

SB 1240 would have required the DLNR to stop issuing new permits for aquarium fishing by people who use fine mesh nets, and would have halted all transfers of existing permits after July 1, 2022. People who now have permits would be able to continue harvesting aquarium fish indefinitely, however.

Supporters of the proposed restrictions included Robert Wintner of Snorkel Bob’s, who described aquarium fishing as “wildlife trafficking for the pet trade,” and organizations such as the Endangered Habitats League and the Humane Society of the United States.

Opponents included Wayne Sugiyama of Wayne’s Ocean World Inc., which stocks and sells fish from Hawaii and other parts of the Pacific, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Sugiyama argued in written testimony that “the impact of millions of snorkelers trampling the reefs have a greater impact than a small group of (aquarium) fishermen maybe numbering less than 50.”

State Rep. Kaniela Ing (D, South Maui), who introduced the bill, said that “currently we’re allowing unlimited take without knowing how much is too much.”

“Beachgoers and snorkelers, hotels, fishermen, they are seeing depletion of fish anecdotally on Oahu,” and there is a need for more research to provide more data, he said.

“The question really is in setting policy. How do we feel about exploiting our natural resources for purely ornamental reasons of human enjoyment, and should the state be condoning an industry where we lock fish that are supposed to be in a reef in little glass boxes?” he asked. “My take is, I don’t like aquarium fishing. I think they’re much more beautiful on the reef than they are in a glass box.”

Other bills that were rejected by Ige included:

>> SB 410, which would have broadened the scope of collective bargaining negotiations. Ige said the bill would have limited the ability of state departments to effectively manage the state workforce by requiring union consent on such matters as assignment, transfer and discipline.

>> SB 562, which would have required the state attorney general to defend against any civil lawsuit prompted by negligence or a wrongful act by a county lifeguard working at a state beach park. Despite the veto, Ige said in a written statement that the attorney general will defend county lifeguards working on state beaches for actions that are within the scope of the lifeguards’ duties.

>> House Bill 1414, which would have required the state auditor to investigate and report on problems with the Department of Taxation’s $60 million tax system modernization project. Ige said independent monitoring of the project is already being done by an outside contractor, and the auditor warned it might be difficult to identify problems until the project is completed.

>> HB 2, which would have authorized “tiny homes” of 500 square feet or less to be built in the state agriculture district of Hawaii County. The tiny homes would have been used by farmworkers or their immediate families on land used for agricultural production. Ige said the Hawaii County zoning code already allows for “farm dwellings” on ag lands.

>> HB 727 would have allowed operators of motorcycles or motor scooters to travel between stopped lanes of traffic and on the shoulder lanes of highways. Ige said there was concern that would “compromise road safety.”