Commercial aquarium trade violates Native Hawaiian rights

Make no mistake, the excessive taking of our reef wildlife and ohana by the North American pet trade, for pure profit and exploitation, is a campaign issue.

We call upon Gov. David Ige to invoke the Aloha Spirit law and to immediately comply with the spirit and intent of the Supreme Court of Hawaii’s order halting the commercial aquarium trade until the environmental review process pursuant to Hawaii Environmental Policy Act has been fully complied with.

The reefs are under assault by climate change, pollution and other damaging activities. Continuing to allow the unlimited capture and sale of Hawaii’s marine wildlife is unacceptable and goes against the very principles of aloha ‘aina.

Many of the species collected for market are the species necessary to keep our reefs and ocean clean and healthy. These species are also considered sacred as ‘aumakua (family guardians) to many Hawaiians families.

The cruel and violent capture and containment processes that the animals must endure, causes us great concern and upset, as the spiritual balance and harmony cannot be maintained in this way.

Last year the governor vetoed a compromise bill that would have phased out the aquarium trade. Months later the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled on a case brought by a coalition of Native Hawaiians practitioners and environmental groups. The court’s ruling essentially ended decades of illegal permit approvals by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) that allowed limitless take of Hawaii’s marine life for the pet trade.

But in a side step around the ruling, the Ige administration is allowing limitless take by the aquarium trade to continue under a different permit — i.e., it is occurring under “commercial” fishing permits, as opposed to the “aquarium fish collection” permits that were invalidated by the Supreme Court. This is problematic.

Articles IX and XII of the State Constitution require government agencies to promote and preserve cultural beliefs, practices and resources of Native Hawaiians and the general public for whom these resources are held as a part of the public trust.

Our constitutional protections are unique, in that, they protect Native Hawaiians and the public’s right to fully enjoy these resources. The aquarium trade violates these provisions by excessively taking our resources, which frustrates the public and Native Hawaiians’ ability to practice and to maintain a healthy reef and nearshore ecosystem.

When the executive branch fails to uphold and enforce the court’s orders, it places the burden on the public to have to sue and then sue again — and the question is, when does it stop?

We are calling on Gov. Ige to start taking the public and Native Hawaiian rights and resources seriously and stop the continued commercial devastation of our reef wildlife for the aquarium trade’s private profit.

We affirm that the buck stops with the governor, and we call upon him to shut the trade down now. If the governor can find the strength to do this, we offer our assistance to work together to help restore balance to our reefs and ocean. We are not seeking to “conserve” the status quo but to heal and restore the health and abundance — the aina momona of our oceans. We call on the governor to join with us now, to do this together. The injury must stop before the healing can begin.

Kaimi Kaupiko is a fisher in Milolii and Mike Nakachi is president of Moana Ohana; both are Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and among plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case against the state. Kealoha Pisciotta is founder of the marine protection group, Kai Palaoa, and president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou.