A perennial battle between aquarium fish collectors and conservationists will be played out in County Council chambers today, as a council committee takes up a measure regulating the transport of fish off-island.
Bill 318, sponsored by Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, prohibits the withholding of food for more than 24 hours, requires fish to be transported in a minimum of one gallon of water per fish and prohibits “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently carrying or causing to be carried in or upon any vehicle or other conveyance aquarium life within the County in a manner that is likely to result in the injury or death of the aquarium life.”
The bill exempts Native Hawaiians using fish for cultural purposes, government and nonprofits using fish for educational purposes, provided they are not sold, and any fish at county airports in transit that do not leave the airport. Violators would be charged with a petty misdemeanor and subject to fines up to $1,000 or 30 days in jail, or both.
Advocates say the measure is needed because too many fish are being taken from Hawaii Island’s reefs for out-of-state aquarium hobbyists and too few survive the trip.
“It’s not the same as it used to be,” said Mike Nakachi, son of a retired commercial fisherman and boat captain with Aloha Dive Co. in Kailua-Kona. “There are certainly less fish.”
Nakachi said aquarium collectors can collect unlimited numbers of most popular tropical fish. He and other dive enthusiasts and environmentalists have been trying since at least 1999 to get the state to regulate how many are taken, but have so far been unsuccessful.
Aquarium collectors say extra regulations aren’t necessary. They wouldn’t be in business long, they say, if they depleted the reef or if most of their fish die en route.
“Whoever wrote this bill knows absolutely nothing about aquarium fish,” said Ron Tubbs of R.T. Distributors. “I spend more time fighting stupid bills than taking care of my fish.”
Tubbs said fish on the reef often go weeks without eating, and overfeeding fish makes them less healthy. He added that the amount of oxygen put in the bag for transport is actually more important than the amount of seawater. His fish, he said, have room to swim in their bag, unlike human passengers on the plane, “who are packed in like sardines.”
Tubbs and David Dart, an aquarium collector and member of the West Hawaii Fisheries Council, point to reports this year of a “spawn of biblical proportions,” with reefs around the island teeming with young fish. Some divers attribute the fish bloom to conservation measures taken in West Hawaii in recent years.
Bill 318 is scheduled to be heard at 1:45 p.m. today by the Committee on Agriculture, Water and Energy Sustainability. The committee meets at the West Hawaii Civic Center. The public can also participate by videoconference from Hilo council chambers, the Waimea council office, the county facility in Kohala, the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates Community Center or the Pahoa neighborhood facility.