HomeMy WebLinkAboutRozendo, Rafaell
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:Rafaell Rozendo <rafaellrozendo@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, July 20, 2026 9:02 PM
To:Council Testimony
Subject:Resident Testimony, County Council resolution 603-26
Rafaell Rozendo
7/20/26
Chairperson Sharon Hurd
Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity
1428 South King Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
Re: A RESOLUTION URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND BIOSECURITY TO IMPLEMENT
AND ENFORCE PLANT QUARANTINE INTERIM RULE 26-1, REGULATING THE TRANSPORTATION OF
COCONUT RHINOCEROS BEETLE HOST MATERIAL ON HAWAII ISLAND.
Aloha Chairperson Hurd and Members of the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity,
I am writing to support Resolution 603-26 which urges the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to
fully implement and enforce Plant Quarantine Rule 26-1.
Hawaii Island's East Side grows too much food to allow CRB to take root. Failure to act now will allow
CRB to continue to spread, which will permanently reduce our island's ability to grow food. Reducing our
ability to grow food on island means that in an emergency, we are more reliant on outside shipments to
feed people here.
Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) was first detected in Hawaii on the Island of O'ahu in
2013. Since that time, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (referred to as DAB in this petition) and its
partners worked to prevent the spread of CRB. Ultimately, those efforts were not successful and CRB is
now established and widespread on O'ahu where it is decimating coconut groves, hala, and endangered
palms. For the first 10 years, DAB was able to prevent the movement of CRB to other islands of the State.
This unfortunately changed in May of 2023 when CRB was detected on the Island of Kaua'i, where it is
now widespread, and in October 2023, when CRB larvae were collected in the Waiköloa Village area of
Hawaii. After the initial detection on Hawaii Island, adult CRB were detected in the Waiköloa area in
2024, and since March of 2025, CRB was detected outside the Waikoloa area at multiple sites on west
Hawaii Island, near the Kona International Airport and within the Keahole Agricultural Park.
I urge the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity to direct DAB to implement the interim rule to its fullest
potential described in interim rule 26-1as quickly as possible.
For those worried about the costs of implementing the interim rule, think about the cost of pesticides,
inspections, lost crops, and increased imports would have over the next 10 years if CRB is allowed to
1
continue to spread on Hawai'i island. We must pay the cost of the interim rule in the short term to be able
to reduce costs to our whole island in the long term.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony and for your efforts to help control the spread of
CRB across Hawai'i Island.
Aloha,
Rafaell Rozendo
2