State Senate panel defers decision on aquarium bill

A Senate panel Friday deferred a decision on whether to advance a controversial bill that would shut down the commercial collection of aquarium fish in Hawaii.

Senate Bill 931 takes a much different approach from a bill passed by the Legislature in 2017 but vetoed by Gov. David Ige.

The 2017 bill referred to scientific factors to call for the phasing out of the trade in Hawaii.

But the current measure cites cultural factors, saying the commercial collection of marine life for aquarium purposes is inconsistent with Native Hawaiian cultural practices, including the principle of taking only what is needed from the ocean for subsistence.

Sen. Kai Kahele, chairman of the Senate’s Water and Land Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill, expressed reservations about the cultural approach Friday after hearing testimony from fishermen, cultural practitioners and others.

“I think it’s a slippery slope to use that to ban an industry,” Kahele told those attending the hearing.

Referring to the ancient Hawaiian kapu system of governance, the senator said, “We’re using Hawaiian culture in a way that wasn’t applicable back then.”

The panel put off a decision on the bill until Wednesday. A similar measure in the House, HB 851, hasn’t received a hearing.

Like past bills seeking to ban or severely limit the aquarium trade, SB 931 triggered hundreds of written comments, with the majority supporting the measure.

Kahele’s committee heard passionate arguments from both sides Friday.

“The aquarium fish trade allows Hawaiian people to practice our culture by gathering from our resources, as did our ancestors,” said Makani Christensen, president of the Hunting, Farming and Fishing Association and a Native Hawaiian.

Like ancient Hawaiians, today’s aquarium fishers use natural resources in a sustainable way to enhance their living conditions, Christensen told the committee.

Several people in the trade said they relied on it to support their families and implored legislators not to shut it down.

But Big Island resident Mike Nakachi, a cultural practitioner, diver and business owner, said Native Hawaiian values stress that fishers take only what is needed from the ocean, part of the broader concept of malama ‘aina, or caring for the land for present and future generations.

The commercial capture of fish to display in aquariums does not align with those values, Nakachi said. “It’s that simple.”

Inga Gibson, a policy consultant who is lobbying for the bill, called on legislators to “end this destructive trade.”

“It’s time to be the voice for our reef wildlife,” she told the committee.

The push for the bill comes at a time when the industry has been hobbled by a 2017 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that made illegal the use of fine mesh nets – the primary tool for aquarium fish collectors. The high court required the Department of Land and Natural Resources to go through an environmental review before it can issue permits for use of such nets.

To comply with the ruling, the industry is working on an environmental impact statement covering the Big Island, where the bulk of aquarium fish in Hawaii historically has been captured. Environmental assessments — less extensive studies — were done by the industry for the Big Island and Oahu, but DLNR determined that wasn’t sufficient to gauge potential environmental impacts.

A draft report of the more extensive study is not expected to be completed until August and will then be made available for public comment, an industry spokesman said.

Several people in the trade urged legislators to wait for that process to finish before considering taking any action on legislation.