Two contentious bills relating to aquarium fishing are dead in the state House of Representatives.
Committee on Judiciary Chairman Karl Rhoads said there was too much controversy and too little clarity around House Bill 873 to move it out of committee Tuesday.
The bill would have established a limited entry system for aquarium fishing permits and set up catch limits as well as certification requirements and conditions of eligibility. It would have also established a maximum fatality rate of 1 percent for aquatic life collected for aquariums. The bill had 23 cosponsors.
“I deferred it indefinitely,” Rhoads said. “There was a lot of conflicting testimony. It’s a pretty complicated topic and I didn’t think we could put together anything quickly enough.”
Another bill designed to prevent harassment of fishermen is dead in the water. The legislation was spawned by a high profile attack by Ocean View aquarium fisherman Jay Lovell on a reef activist who approached him underwater. Lovell, who tore a regulator from the mouth of Rene Umberger of Maui in May 2014 received a suspended sentence last month for second-degree terroristic threatening, and the incident prompted a bill designed to clarify rules around harassment of fishermen.
The legislation fell victim to tight schedules, Rhoads said.
“We’re not going to hear it in time to get it through,” he said. “You just can’t hear everything.”
Still alive and passing out of committee on Tuesday was H.B. 483, which would allow law enforcement officers to inspect the fish containers, premises and boats of wholesalers and fishermen within the West Hawaii regional fishery management area, without first establishing probable cause the way they must as laws are currently written.
The bill is designed to increase enforcement capabilities and allow for data collection on activities and resources. The bill relates to fishing generally, and is supported by reef conservation groups and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. It is opposed by others who call such a measure illegal search and seizure.
Interim Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairman Carty Chang supported the legislation but said in testimony that the provisions should be extended statewide to ensure that all officers have the same tools to enforce the law.
But the committee decided to keep the legislation specific to West Hawaii, Rhoads said. Judiciary also amended the bill to ensure that provisions related only to administrative penalties and that officers could not use the law to bring criminal penalties unless they had first established probable cause.
Rhoads said he expects the bill to clear the House, but it has no companion legislation on the Senate side, so it wasn’t clear what would happen to the bill later in the session, the lawmaker said.
In comments following a presentation on aquarium fish to the Rotary Club of Kona Mauka on Tuesday, aquatic biologist Bill Walsh said the measure is common sense resource protection.
“This is a standard enforcement procedure,” said Walsh, who works for the state Division of Aquatic Resources. “If you’re a hunter, enforcement can check your bag. So why the difference for fishermen?”