Keith Dane, of the mainland animal rights group Humane Society of the United States (“Ige administration ignores community, high court ruling,” Aug. 4) is correct that the Hawaii Supreme and Circuit Court rulings shut down the bulk of Hawaii’s aquarium trade when they banned the commercial and recreational use of fine mesh nets for the capture of the state’s coral reef wildlife pending environmental review.
Unfortunately, much of the rest of his op-ed misstates the facts. It’s especially unfortunate that his op-ed follows the classic negative tactic of attacking the actual truth to create doubt. The DLNR specifically, and the Ige administration generally, are meticulously implementing the court rulings.
Following the shutdown of fine mesh nets, catch of aquarium fish has declined dramatically. See Star-Advertiser headline article, Aug. 6, “Reef fish catch down since court ruling.”
Mr. Dane and his group are well aware that the court rulings only impact the use of fine mesh nets, which are the preferred gear for aquarium fishing. Other gear types that were previously allowed are still legal under HRS 188-31. These gear types are much less effective.
In inflating the numbers of reef animals caught by remaining legal gear types, Mr. Dane includes invertebrates, which have comprised approximately 61 percent of the aquarium harvest since aquarium net permits were invalidated. These invertebrates are caught using other legal methods and the majority are not even reef species.
Legislation proposed last year to restrict aquarium fishing was vetoed by Gov. David Ige precisely because it confused the regulation of fine mesh nets with the regulation of aquarium fishing generally, despite repeated testimony of DLNR that the bill could not have been implemented as intended. DLNR did not oppose legislation proposed this past year to phase out aquarium fishing over time, but that legislation didn’t pass.
To comply with the Hawaii Supreme Court’s ruling that the Department’s issuance of new aquarium permits is an “action” subject to the requirements of Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 343, the department immediately ceased issuing new aquarium permits for commercial and recreational collectors until the review has been completed. On Oct. 27, 2017, the Circuit Court said that all existing aquarium permits issued to commercial collectors are “illegal and invalid.” On April 12, the Circuit Court decided that the same ruling applied to recreational aquarium collectors.
On Jan. 6, 2018, department also notified fishers that due to the specific requirements of aquarium permits and commercial marine licenses for West Hawaii, no aquarium fishing in West Hawaii was permitted at all under the court rulings, regardless of gear type.
To comply with Chapter 343, the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) subsequently prepared separate environmental assessments for the Oahu and Island of Hawaii commercial aquarium fisheries as an “applicant action.” Following notice and public comment, PIJAC prepared final Environmental Assessments and proposed findings of no significant impact.
DLNR reviewed these documents carefully, and issued a notice of determination for each stating that they needed to be analyzed under a full environmental impact statement. Whether and when that analysis proceeds is up to PIJAC.
In the meantime, the ban on the use of fine mesh nets for aquarium fishing continues.
Suzanne Case is the chair of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources