Humane society, like most of Hawaii, supports aquarium ban
In his recent letter on the aquarium collection trade, Steve Kaiser included some false information that misrepresents the mission of the Humane Society of the United States – the nation’s largest animal protection organization, with thousands of members in Hawaii.
His claims about our views regarding various animal-related practices and entities are easily refuted by our position statement on wild animals and our programs to encourage responsible horse ownership, found on humanesociety.org. We are a mainstream animal protection organization, advocating for animals in our society and around the world.
Mr. Kaiser disregards the numerous reasons we, and 84 percent of Hawaii voters polled recently, want to end the removal of our coral reef wildlife to populate mainland aquariums. Aside from the significant impact on our reef and the drastically reduced numbers of beautiful fish for residents and visitors to behold, methods used to capture and ship these animals are extremely cruel –frequently leading to death in the process. The survivors have a much higher mortality rate in buyers’ tanks than fish in the wild – creating a never-ending demand for our reef fish.
We wouldn’t allow our native birds to be trafficked for mainland bird enthusiasts, with a high mortality rate. It’s even illegal to remove lava rock and sand – for any purpose, commercial or not.
Yet while we wait for the pet industry to conduct thorough environmental impact studies as required by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, thousands of our reef wildlife are being removed monthly without restriction.
Keith Dane
HIHS policy adviser, state affairs
Show doesn’t make good neighbor
As I read the article about the MTV reality TV special, all I could think about was the neighbors having to endure this fiasco of a house full of 20-somethings cooped up next door!
Yes, a real “paradise” for the people earning all of the hefty proceed, not for the get-up-and-go-to-work people living next door in a regular Kona neighborhood.
Chris Fulien
Kona
Ige should stop aquarium trade
What DLNR chair Suzanne Case described as “meticulously implementing the court rulings” regarding the agency’s regulation of the aquarium trade is really interpreting the rulings in the narrowest possible way in favor of a special interest group.
It took months of prodding to get them to properly implement the rulings and shut down the trade in West Hawaii, and they’ve been turning a blind eye to the sea cucumber rule since Day 1.
These are just two of numerous examples of a blatant reluctance to enforce. Blaming the Legislature for no action is passing the buck. Regulatory authority was given to DLNR decades ago by the Legislature to “prohibit activities that may disturb, degrade, or alter the marine environment.”
Hawaii communities want the aquarium trade to stop negatively impacting our fragile coral reefs. It’s the main reason why 84 percent of Hawaii voters polled want the trade to end. Gov. David Ige’s administration is skirting its responsibility to protect our resources and environment.
DLNR is dodging the court-ordered environmental review of the trade by choosing to allow continued limitless commercial take as long as the trade claims they aren’t using fine mesh nets. They are choosing to ignore the intent of Hawaii’s environmental law for the benefit of the North American pet trade – even though Ige said the other methods in use are potentially more damaging. It’s a shell game.
Catering to the mainland pet industry and allowing their cronies here limitless access to Hawaii’s coral reef wildlife must end. Gov. Ige has the authority to step up here – the question is whether he has the will.
Virginia Towle
Kailua-Kona