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[peanut95]

Link to the Aquarium Bill



Link to the bill



http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessio...ls/SB3225_.htm

Aloha all, The Hawaii Legislature is considering to pass a bill that will limit aquarium fish collection in Hawaii to 20 fish per collector per person with a maximum of 5 yellow tangs per day. The bill also will put a no take cap on angels, butterflies, boxfish, puffers,eels and many other species. The passage of this bill will essentially shut down the tropical fish industry in Hawaii which will include the transhipped items from Christmas Island and Marshall Islands. Please forward this to everyone in the industry because if we don't stop this bill, next year, yellow tangs may wholesale at $100 each.


Let's try this :

Regarding Senate Bill 3225 SB3225



Everyone including all businesses, employees, divers, parents, kids, brothers and sisters, friends, and everyone involved in this industry -



JAN. 28-29th FROM EARLY IN THE MORNING TO LATE AFTERNOON, CALL SEN. CLAYTON HEE'S OFFICE AT 808-586-7330 AND WHEN ASKED BY HIS OFFICE STAFF - LEAVE YOUR FULL NAME - ( FIRST AND LAST NAME ), AND PHONE NUMBER, AND VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TO SB3225. IF WE CAN GET 500+ PHONE CALLS INTO HIS OFFICE, WE CAN SHOW THERE IS VERY STRONG OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL . IT'S POSSIBLE THAT HE MIGHT SHELVE THIS BILL. WE NEED TO TIE UP HIS PHONE WITH OUR CALLS. THEN TOMORROW NIGHT, FAX SENATOR HEE YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL ALSO. ( FAX NUMBER 808-586-7334 ) THIS WAY, WHEN HIS STAFF COMES IN ON TUESDAY MORNING, THERE WILL BE FAXES ALL OVER HIS OFFICE FLOOR.



WE NEED TO OVERWHELM HIM WITH CALLS AND FAXES VOICING OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL.

[lvpd186]

Wow, what are the reasons behind the bill (the link doesn't work btw)? Is there some science backing up the bill (over harvesting, diminishing population)?

[scotmc]

It would be nice to see what the industry has done to the reefs of the islands. I would assume, they have had an impact, or this bill would not have been created. If,they are over harvesting and damaging the reefs, I would rather pay the highter prices.

[widmer]

Who knows how underinformed I am, but the bill sounds good to me. Anything to encourage more captive breeding, less reef destruction. Where did my liverock come from? I made it. Where did my corals come from? They're captive bred.

[scotmc]

Dosent this thread violate RC policies on politics??

[adamn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11711303#post11711303 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by widmer
Who knows how underinformed I am, but the bill sounds good to me. Anything to encourage more captive breeding, less reef destruction. Where did my liverock come from? I made it. Where did my corals come from? They're captive bred.

I agree 100% ... its a great bill!

[airinhere]

My concern over a bill like this is that it is targeted at a specific group of people (profesional collectors). This sort of proposal is going to have an economic impact on a select few individuals, but it doesnt seem to address the justification for targeting these people.

I am not saying it might not be a sorely needed policy. I recently dove Florida. Regulations were similar there to what is being proposed here. I still had a wonderful time.

I also got to see firsthand the surprising scarcity of stony corals in that area and understand better why they are protected in that area.

The real concern I have here and in Florida is if the restrictions on collecting are based on sound judgments. Is it really the collectors who are having the strongest impact? Is it beachfront hotels and their policy of renewing their private beaches by dredging the local area and then depositing sand at the shoreline where tourists can enjoy soft white sands?

It is easy to villify a group of people that profit by catching the native fish. But they might be the lesser evil in this situation.

There is no doubt that something needs to be done to protect the native fish populations in Hawaii. Lets just make sure we are looking at the correct cause of the problem before we start creating solutions.

$100 Yellow Tangs are not a good reason to oppose this Bill. Creating legislation that doesn't fix the problem is.

[greenbean36191]

First of all, the senators from HI bring up bills like this every 3 or 4 years and they never even get close to passing, so I wouldn't get too worked up over this.

Second, even if it did pass, I'm not sure it would have any real impact for us. Hawai'i's current fish collection laws are poorly enforced. About the only people who get caught are tourists that locals call in to report. Already, commercial collectors are required to submit monthly reports of the types and numbers of fish they collect, but most people don't and the DAR almost never takes any action. Enforcing the law there could be done entirely from behind a computer. With the new bill we're talking about trying to enforce a law that actually requires footwork.

Is it really the collectors who are having the strongest impact? The question shouldn't be who is have the strongest impact, but whether a given industry is a serious contributor. And yes, there is evidence that collecting for the aquarium trade is causing big impacts on fish populations. I think it was Andy Bruckner that did some work comparing the populations of popular aquarium fish, including yellow tangs between nearby sites that were closed vs. open to aquarium collectors. Some species were something like 60% less abundant in the areas that were open. Since there aren't a whole lot of other markets for yellow tangs, it's pretty likely that the main contributor is aquarium collectors.

Is it beachfront hotels and their policy of renewing their private beaches by dredging the local area and then depositing sand at the shoreline where tourists can enjoy soft white sands?
Well there's not a whole lot of that going on in HI. Most of the nourishing in the state is happening on beaches that have been "nourished" for a long time like Waikiki. There are also laws in place in the US to prevent nourishment projects from smothering reefs. If the project threatens a reef, it's usually not permitted. Sometimes that hasn't always worked, but it's not a widespread problem like in other parts of the world.

I'm all for this bill.

[jonbry123]

I'm for this bill also. When I look at the hundreds of online company's and no doubt the thousands of LFS across the country selling these animals it has to have a profound effect on the habitat. In the not to distant future these and other fish maybe gone from the wild and that would truly be a shame.

[JustinReef]

Its along shot but I hope a bill like this DOES get passed sometime soon.

[dc]

This topic has been posted on many sub-forums here and perhaps it would be best to discuss on this same topic in `Responsible Reefkeeping'.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1306550

Please keep in mind the UA before posting