HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0896.183 2022-2024From: Topher Dean
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2024 2:05 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: I OPPOSE Bill 169, Draft 3
Dear County Council Members,
I'm asking you please, do not reopen the aquarium fish extraction
industry. With the climate crisis, pollution, overfishing, tourism, coastal
development and other factors, the last thing these fish need is to be
kidnapped, stuffed into plastic bags with their fins cut and bladder
punctured, flown across the country to end up serving a short life sentence in
some dentist's office.
I don't know if you do much snorkeling, but I can't do it anymore. It's )ust
too painful for me. I remember when I used to swim with giant schools of
yellow tang, now you're lucky to see a group of 5. My Son, who worked for
the DAR counting reef fish and measuring reef decline, pointed to a school
of yellow tang off the dock at Mahukona. There were maybe a dozen of
them and he said, "I heard schools like this were common once." I had to
really suppress my urge to breakdown in tears. I didn't have the heart to tell
him that when I was his age, this would have been an unusually small school,
with the average between 50 and 100. It's not just the tang, everything,
everywhere, is dying.
2/3 of the total base load of all animals that were alive in 1970 are gone. The
Book of Revelations warns that you'll know the apocalypse is upon us when
1/3 of all the animals die. Humanity, capitalism, is literally twice as bad as
the biblical apocalypse. And why? So a few people can make a buck.? There
is absolutely zero need for taking fish for aquariums, it's Just a hobby.
Finally, do people have the right to take reef fish from the ocean, so they can
keep them in a glass box in their living room? What about me? What about
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my right to enjoy watching these amazingly beautiful fish? Their selfishness
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is infringing on my constitutional right to pursue happiness. You wanna
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smoke cigarettes? I guess, but you have no right to expose me to that toxic
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smoke. This is the same. They are breaking my heart, taking something
from me and all of the millions of people who live or visit Hawaii and want
to see our vibrant and spectacular coral reef ecosystem. That is unjust,
selfish, and cruel, to you, me, everyone who snorkels, everyone who depends
on a healthy coral ecosystem and especially to the inhabitants of our coral
reefs.
you ou to push for a permanent ban for the aquarium trade. 1--laving the
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bare minimum to prevent extinction is not enough.
Sincerely,
Topher Dean
55-699 Kahel Rd.
Hawl, HI 96719
808-339-0482
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