HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0730.023 2008-2010Murashige, Laura
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Attachments: County Council Testimony.doc
R 30 $-l0 (Co git 7,3
Please open the attachment for my letter of testimony....
4/6/2010
C Cooter[cscooter808 @yahoo.com]
Monday, April 05, 2010 9 10 PM
counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us; genriques @co.hawaii.hi.us
Council Testimony
Page 1 of 1
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CC5U '.) CLERK
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Comm No '7 30. 2-3
Ref. To: r CA
Ref. Dote APR 0 7 Z0C0
TO: WEST HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL
REGARDING: SUPPORT OF DAR RESOLUTION NO. 308 -10
Dear Members of the County Council,
1 am writing in support of Resolution No. 308 -10 urging the DLNR to adopt rules
presented by the West Hawaii Fisheries Council regulating tropical fish collection.
I am a resident of South Kona, a member of the Friends of Pebble Beach, a diver and a
supporter of our Hawaiian resources. The reef fish in Hawaii are one of our valuable
resources. We should protect them and yet we almost give them away. I would favor the
abolishment of all aquarium fish collection in Hawaii, but there are those who feel that
the tropical aquarium industry should also be supported.
We have an opportunity to protect our reefs and our reef fish, as well as to continue to
allow fish collection in West Hawaii, with the adoption of the rules presented in
Resolution 308 -10. This is a step in the right direction. The health of our reefs depends
upon a delicate balance, and reef fish are an integral part of this balance. Limiting the
number of licenses for fish collecting, and creating a "white list" of species that can be
collected, is an intelligent method of protecting our resources. The proposal of a bag limit
for large reproductively mature yellow tang is an intelligent method of ensuring that there
continues to be yellow tang.
I swim, snorkel and dive in Kaohe Bay and am always sad when I arrive at the Bay and
find a aquarium collector's boat in the Bay. I feel sad that he is taking away some of the
fish that I am coming to admire As a diver I am taught to observe and preserve, not to
touch. This is the opposite of the collector who takes from the reef. Most of the fish don't
survive their capture to live in a fish tank on the mainland. Most of the money made in
the take of our fish stays on the mainland.
As members of the County Council, please take this opportunity and vote yes or aye for
Resolution 308 -10.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Cooter