I know that a lot of people in West Hawaii are upset with Gov. David Ige for vetoing Senate Bill 1240, but I, for one, was pleased that he did so. I know that those concerned people who supported it
I know that a lot of people in West Hawaii are upset with Gov. David Ige for vetoing Senate Bill 1240, but I, for one, was pleased that he did so. I know that those concerned people who supported it were all thinking that SB 1240 was a good thing, because of inaccurate information they had heard.
I have been involved in the issues surrounding aquarium fishing, the main concern of SB 1240, for nearly 20 years. Our organization, the Lost Fish Coalition, was the first to try to get management for the aquarium industry here in West Hawaii in the late ‘90s. We were astonishingly successful, and West Hawaii is now the only area of the state to have more than 50 miles of fish replenishment areas where no aquarium collecting is allowed, and we have been instrumental in assisting the state to implement a wide range of regulations, including species prohibitions, bag limits for certain sizes, registration and marking of vessels, etc. Here in West Hawaii the aquarium industry is now the most highly regulated fishery in the state.
So, I think I can claim that I know what I am talking about concerning this issue, and the final word on SB 1240 is that it was a flawed bill and we can do better.
This year the authors of SB 1240 wanted to piggyback on the public’s rightful distress over the coral bleaching we had experienced in 2015. They tried to get some push from the state’s recently published Coral Bleaching Recovery Plan. This plan, put together by DLNR using the best ideas and suggestions from marine scientists around the world, indicated that banning aquarium collecting was very low on the list of helpful actions.
Nevertheless, SB 1240 went through various changes: first, a moratorium on collecting permits, then removal of language pertaining to aquarium collecting, then, allow current holders to keep their licenses. It was sort of a hash. At this point, all pretense that this bill had anything to do with coral bleaching had been dropped.
Now the interesting thing here is that SB 1240, as it came out of conference committee, was coming close to something a lot of people, especially marine scientists, really would like to happen: It’s called limited entry and it is a powerful management tool used by resource managers all over the world.
A limited entry fishery is one in which the number of licenses is limited — there will never be more fishers than the original number, usually the number of active working licenses issued at the time of the “control date.” As time goes on some will retire and give up their licenses or someone who is guilty of marine violations may lose his license, never to get it back. The number will decline.
However, the beauty of limited entry is that it means that license is something of real value. It is in the interest of the collector holding the license to make sure that the reef remains healthy and fish populations sustainable, because that is where the real value of the license lies: It can be sold. Just as no one wants to buy a business that has burned to the ground, no one will buy a license for a dead reef and no fish.
Unfortunately, there was no time available to get further input from scientists, etc. so the bill was vetoed. However, many of us are committed to seeing a limited entry system put in place state-wide next year. It will literally give supporters of SB 1240 everything that they wanted, but done with all the correct legal perspective and scientific data put into it.
So, don’t grieve for SB 1240. Help us make a better version next year and help us get it passed.
Tina Owens is a member of the Lost Fish Coalition.
