The future of Hawaiian fishing permits is still up in the air after last week’s meeting with the State of Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources.
At the meeting The Board of Land and Natural Resources and the state Division of Aquatic Resources submitted a request to grant permits to commercial aquarium fishers to operate in West Hawaii, a process we hoped would be the last box check in years of litigation between pro and anti aquarium fishers over wild harvested fish including the Yellow Tang.
The Environmental Impact Statement has now been satisfied by both the Court and Supreme Court, but Board Chair Dawn Chang halted any further decision-making after several attendees petitioned for a contested case in the matter.
According to the Hawaii Tribune Herald, dozens of residents spoke at Friday’s meeting, and thousands of pages of written testimony were submitted in advance of the meeting.
Written and verbal testimony against reopening included the following claims:
“the aquarium industry degraded our reefs significantly from the 1960s into the 1990s, destroying the balance…”
“as climate change continues to ravage the planet, protecting reef ecosystems — where dwell phytoplankton, which produce an estimated 50% of the oxygen on earth — will become increasingly imperative…”
“our resources are under stress…”
“harvesting fish for purposes other than sustenance is an alien practice incompatible with treating nature with aloha…”
“The concept of aquarium fishing has always been unsettling and foreign to me, Environmental concerns such as overharvesting, biodiversity loss, coral reef impact, habitat destruction, bycatch, disease, and invasive species are significant issues related to aquarium fishing (and) justify the ban on aquarium fish collection…”
What we think
The issue we have with all the above, incredibly wide-ranging statements on reef degradation, habitat loss, disease, climate change, and even oxygen production, important as they all are when used in proper context, is that the plural of anecdote does not equal data.
Whereas on the pro aquarium fishing side, the West Hawaii aquarium fishery is the most studied fishery on the planet, backed up by decades of robust scientific data and supported by dozens of Ph.Ds.
The Fishery put out this statement following Friday’s meeting, and this time clearly naming its main antagonist:
“The aquarium fishers of Hawaii have always known we are the most studied and best-managed fishery in the state and today’s ruling has affirmed that.”
“Fisheries of all kinds are under attack by international NGOs such as EarthJustice and other activist groups, who take outside money and use it to dictate policy here in our waters.”
“Today the court said not so fast.”
“The EIS has been confirmed by the Supreme Court and the original ruling has been fully satisfied, but we still can’t fish because the DLNR is delaying due to relentless attacks by EarthJustice.”
“DLNR needs to do what’s right, follow the science, and issue the permits. There has been enough process and all environmental review has been completed.”
“We are the only fishery to ever complete such a thing. We truly hope that all fishers and gatherers see this as a win for the little guy.”
“EarthJustice does not control Hawaii.”
The quest to reopen the Hawaii Aquarium Fishery continues…
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