Aloha all, The Hawaii Legislature is considering to pass a bill that will limit aquarium fish collection in Hawaii to 20 fish per collector per person with a maximum of 5 yellow tangs per day. The bill also will put a no take cap on angels, butterflies, boxfish, puffers,eels and many other species. The passage of this bill will essentially shut down the tropical fish industry in Hawaii which will include the transhipped items from Christmas Island and Marshall Islands. Please forward this to everyone in the industry because if we don't stop this bill, next year, yellow tangs may wholesale at $100 each.
Let's try this :
Regarding Senate Bill 3225 SB3225
Everyone including all businesses, employees, divers, parents, kids, brothers and sisters, friends, and everyone involved in this industry -
JAN. 28-29th FROM EARLY IN THE MORNING TO LATE AFTERNOON, CALL SEN. CLAYTON HEE'S OFFICE AT 808-586-7330 AND WHEN ASKED BY HIS OFFICE STAFF - LEAVE YOUR FULL NAME - ( FIRST AND LAST NAME ), AND PHONE NUMBER, AND VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TO SB3225. IF WE CAN GET 500+ PHONE CALLS INTO HIS OFFICE, WE CAN SHOW THERE IS VERY STRONG OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL . IT'S POSSIBLE THAT HE MIGHT SHELVE THIS BILL. WE NEED TO TIE UP HIS PHONE WITH OUR CALLS. THEN TOMORROW NIGHT, FAX SENATOR HEE YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL ALSO. ( FAX NUMBER 808-586-7334 ) THIS WAY, WHEN HIS STAFF COMES IN ON TUESDAY MORNING, THERE WILL BE FAXES ALL OVER HIS OFFICE FLOOR.
WE NEED TO OVERWHELM HIM WITH CALLS AND FAXES VOICING OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL.
Jovi Z. Macatugal
Sea Dwelling Creatures, Inc.
Report Title:
Fishing; Ornamental Fish; Bag Limits; No Take Category; Appropriation
Description:
Imposes bag limits on certain ornamental fish; prohibits catching of certain ornamental fish; appropriation
THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
3225
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO FISHING.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Chapter 188, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§188- Ornamental fish; bag limit; prohibition; yellow tang stock assessment. (a) There shall be a combined bag limit of twenty fish per person per day of ornamental fish, including but not limited to, yellow tang, flame angels, and butterfly; provided that the combined bag limit may include a maximum of only five yellow tang. No person shall catch, net, or trap more than the bag limit. The department of land and natural resources shall formulate an annual stock assessment of the yellow tang, beginning September 1, 2008, based upon data existing as of that date to provide an estimated inventory for preservation purposes; provided that the assessment shall be made publicly available.
(b) No person shall catch, net, or trap certain ornamental fish in a no-take category, including but not limited to, all puffer fish, all box fish, potter's angel, cleaner wrasse, all coralvores, and all eels.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term "ornamental fish" means salt water fish, usually found in or around reefs, that are commonly kept in aquariums.
(d) The department of land and natural resources shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 for purposes of this section, including adding other types of ornamental fish."
SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $100,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 for the yellow tang fish stock assessment as provided in section 1 of this Act.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 2 shall take effect on July 1, 2008.
__________________ Shane
Hobby Experience - Jun 2005
Tanks - 10 Gallon Semi-Reef
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Wow sounds pretty serious. As to the fact that I am headed to the big island Sunday for a week I should swing in personally and let tem know my $.02 and some!
Its a shame that an already expensive hobby is becoming even more so, but this certainly will provide a disincentive against the purchase of creatures that you may not be able to properly care for.
My question is, Is there a reason for this bill being sought for passage? What is the status of the fish mentioned. If the population of these fish are declining around the Hawaiian Islands then they should be protected. I don't have a problem paying for fish. It's not like we put 100 in our aquariums. I have 8 fish. That's the limit. I have a problem with people selling junk products and bad information to inexperienced hobbyists that end up costing the lives of our friends from the sea. If people had to pay more for SW fish maybe they would take better care of them.
I agree as well, I was in a LFS recently and over heard a conversation that mandarins were really cheap, and the reason was cause there difficult to keep so that when you kill yours you can easily get another one to kill. Maybe if it were $100 that trial and error hobbyist would become a little more cautious. It's unfortunate that some people are only into conserving money, and not life.
Hawaii Legislation
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