TAKE ACTION: For Hawaii's Reef Fish
Photo: Teri Leicher
For years, aquarium fish collectors have taken thousands of fish off Hawai'i's reefs with little oversight or restrictions. Local activists have been trying to get legislation passed to better regulate and/or end the aquarium fish trade, even taking the issue to the Supreme Court and winning in 2017. The court ordered a stop to the commercial collection of aquarium fish in Hawaii pending an environmental review.
Now, a firm funded by a major proponent of the aquarium industry has submitted their Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in an attempt to reopen commercial collection. Aside from being an extremely subjective report, it would monopolize the industry by providing permits to 14 collectors on the Big Island of Hawai’i, with no plans for increased oversight, monitoring or tracking of the industry’s exports. It's also worth noting that 2 of the 14 proposed collectors have already been cited for violating the moratorium.
Public testimony (written or verbal) is needed to let the BLNR know that this is an unacceptable EIS and it should not be accepted. If accepted, the proposed recommendations will likely be adopted, leaving Hawai’i once again vulnerable to this lucrative and data-poor trade. Fish will continue to be silently collected off of Hawaii’s reefs and to be and exported for exhibition in people’s aquariums worldwide. The only true beneficiaries of this trade will continue to be a very small number of harvesters and exporters. We need to keep these fish on our reefs, to ensure that our reefs will be healthy and Momona for generations to come.
TAKE ACTION: Write to the Board of Land And Natural Resources and encourage them to REJECT the proposed EIS.
You can e-mail them at BLNR.Testimony@Hawaii.gov. Don’t forget to include your first and last name.
If you are in Hawai’i, you can attend the hearing and submit verbal testimony on Friday, May 22nd 2020 at 9a.m HST. Contact us if you would like a copy of the BLNR Hearing Agenda and directions to provide verbal testimony on Friday.
Deadline to submit testimony: May 21, 2020 9AM HST
UPDATE: Good news! A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to submit testimony on the worrisome Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that would have reopened the aquarium fish trade in Hawaii! We're happy to report that, after a long virtual Board Of Land And Natural Resources hearing today, the EIS was rejected!
There will likely be more attempts to reopen the trade in the future and we will keep you posted when they come about!
