HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0880.004 2008-2010Aloha Council,
My name is Eric Koch and I am a fisherman from Maui.
1 have known of Rene Umberger for several years. We both have a love for the ocean but have different
views on resource management. I would prefer to have the scientists, designated officials and fisherman
work together, insuring our fishery remains sustainable. I would also like to have honest discussions with
critics of the Aquarium trade but it is difficult when the opposition doesn't want to discuss management,
they only mean to eliminate a viable and sustainable fishery.
I am un aware of what Rene's speech will be about today but I assume it will be along the same lines as
the one she has used for the last few years so I would like to go ahead and present the cross - checked
facts about her typical presentations. I have dedicated my free time contacting various authors and
scientists she regularly quotes asking for clarification of their statements, if they were taken out of
context and if any of their works or words have been distorted.
Rene states that former DAR official Dan Polhemus says that aquarium fisherman under report by as
much as 2 -10 times.
Dan's reply was, "I don't believe I have ever cited such numbers. I doubt that there is any commercial
fishery in the State with a level of under reporting that large"
He continues with, "Furthermore, when we've compared the numbers of animals caught, as reported by
collectors on their catch reports, with the number purchased by dealers there isn't any indication of
gross under reporting by the collectors."
Rene's also quotes author Robert Fenner who is a long time Kona resident and by his own words, "very
pro aquarium trade" She says that Robert stated ALL aquarium fish collected from Hawaii die within a
year.
To clarify Robert writes," that this quote was from 1998 and that numbers have improved over the last
several years and are much better on average by all specimens collected out of Hawaii."
He goes on to state that," aquarium collected fish out of Hawaii fare better by far than the natural
mortality rates that is fishes and invertebrates live longer in captivity than on Hawaiian reefs."
Robert also says that he has not given authorization to Rene to quote him and that the information is
dated.
Robert Fenner sums it up with saying," Snorkel Bob, who is Rene's partner, have their own unstated
agendas...His business likely contributes a very great deal to near shore reef destruction (renting snorkel
gear to neophytes). In attacking the aquarium trade here I think he hopes to deflect blame and perhaps
legislation and gain some PR as a protector of reefs. A hui ho, Bob"
Com, No, ddd.
Ref. To E SL
Ref. :gate AUG n 2 2111a
I have endless amounts of email correspondence with various people Rene likes to quote, some is
included in my written testimony and much more additional information and data is available if needed
or requested by the Council.
Once again, I thank you for allowing me to give testimony today and if there is any questions you would
like answered or need help clarifying, I am more than willing to help.
Ma halo,
Eric Koch
Below is Dan Polhemus' response about Rene's statement regarding aquarium collectors under
reporting and she likes to quote him directly.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dan.A.Polhemus @hawaii.gov
Date: December 23, 2009 8:25:16 AM HST
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Your quote is being used is it accurate?
Hi XXXX -
Thanks for the dialog. Let me see if I can address your questions.
First regarding underreported aquarium catch. Unfortunately there hasn't been a comprehensive
study of whether there is substantial underreporting in the aquarium fishery (or any other fishery). The
numbers I've cited in the past (2X -5X unreported catch) are based on two previous studies of the Hawaii
aquarium fishery. I have attached the reports for you. This is the best information that's available.
Given human nature it wouldn't be surprising that some level of underreporting occurs but there is no
information anywhere to support anything like the 10X figure which I've heard mentioned.
Furthermore when we've compared the number of animals caught, as reported by collectors on their
fish catch reports, with the numbers purchased by dealers there isn't any indication of gross
underreporting by the collectors.
As far as aquarium related mortality in Hawaii goes here's a quote from a Cesar 2002 study
"Mortality rates of aquarium fish are low and have gone down considerably since the last survey in
1984. Currently, mortality rates from collection to wholesaler are estimated at 0 to 1 percent. In the
wholesalers tanks, mortality rates range from close to 0% up to 2 %. During shipment, rates range from
0.75% to 2%. This give a current total of between 1% and 5%, down from a range of 5% to 8% in the
early 1980's (van Poolen and Obara, 1984; estimates of wholesalers and collectors, own study)."
I haven't seen any work to support the figure of 99% mortality rate within one year for captive
marinelife. For animals which have been collected using cyanide this may not be unrealistic and there is
good work on such chemical related mortality. The aquarium fishery in Hawaii does not use destructive
chemicals. The 2007 statistic cited indicating that 20,000 reef animals died while in the possession of
collectors seems to be based upon comparing what collectors report as being caught vs. what's sold. In
2007 this difference was 20,345 animals statewide. A closer examination of the catch report data
reveals that of that total figure, 6,000 or so were miscellaneous shrimp, most likely opae ula, which were
being harvested in fairly large numbers around that time. We don't know why such large number of
shrimp were caught and not sold. They may have been used for fishing purposes or to feed aquarium
fish. They're pretty hardy animals so this difference may not represent collector related mortality but a
redirected use.
Another interesting component of the reporting that year was a single monthly report in March
2007 that indicated a catch of 8,897 yellow tangs by a Big Island collector. Of these only 850 were
reported sold. This seems to be an unrealistically high reported catch for a single collector in one month
not to mention in March, months before settlement of the young, more collectible, tangs occurs. We
checked the actual report and there was a data entry error. It should have been 897 caught (not 8,897).
Thus the total FY 2007 difference between #'s caught and sold is actually 12,345 of which almost half
were miscellaneous shrimp. For FY 2009 we see that there was a difference of about 18,000 in the
number reported caught and sold. 16,000 of these were opae ula. The difference in yellow tangs
reported caught and sold was 2,233, which if it does represent mortality, suggests a collector to dealer
mortality of 0.8% - quite similar to what Cesar found.
It is a good thing for folks to scrutinize and ask questions about what's going on in our fisheries and
on our reefs. These are important to all of us. A realistic perspective does need to be maintained
however. Let me elaborate. On Maui in 2009 there were a total of 16,300 aquarium animals caught,
representing 82 different species. Yellow tangs accounted for 69% while Kole was 7% of the catch.
During that same year non - aquarium commercial fishers captured (and killed) 319,491 reef fishes of 75
species. While yellow tangs weren't caught to any degree there was considerable overlap in a number
of the other species. To the commercial food catch one can add another 480,000 reef fish taken by
recreational /subsistence fishers (extrapolated from 2006 NOAA Rec Fishing Survey data). So, in the
grand scheme of things, the aquarium take on Maui is literally a drop in the bucket, representing Tess
than 2% of the total mortality of reef animals that year. This serves to point out that undue focus and
hyperbole about aquarium collecting and its impact on the reefs is dangerously shortsighted and
counterproductive. We need to think and act holistically.
Hope I didn't overwhelm you with numbers.
- Dan Polhemus
Dr. DAN A. POLHEMUS
Division of Aquatic Resources
State of Hawaii DLNR
1151 Punchbowl St.
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: (808) 587 -0100
e -mail: Dan.A.Polhemus @hawaii.gov
Below is Brian Tissot's response to Rene's statement about under reporting and how she takes his works
"out of context" and what happens in Maui may not be true for Big Island, this is a good statement to
discredit her knowledge of Big Island!
Hi XXXX,
My comments were in reference to my crude estimates of catch relative to fishing area in west Hawaii in
1999 and a DAR study (see attached p. 148) in west Hawaii where there were 97 collectors and an
analysis by DAR showed that only 14% of the monthly catch reports were submitted. No doubt the catch
is underestimated but it is hard to know if the unreported catch reports represent high or low numbers
of fish. From what I know there are very few collectors on Maui and the reported catch is about 13k fish.
My guess is it is higher than that but by how much is anyone's guess. I have seen many of my published
works cited in Maui and taken out of context. What is true for west Hawaii may not be true for Maui.
What really needs to be done is an impact study on Maui similar to what we did in West Hawaii to see if
the fish are actually lower in numbers where collectors operate relative to adjacent closed areas. We
have submitted a grant to conduct this work so it may happen.
Best Regards, Brian
Brian N. Tissot
Professor, School of Earth & Environmental Science
14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave
Washington State University Vancouver
Vancouver, WA 98686 -9600
360 - 546 -9611 (voice); 546 -9064 (fax)
tissot @vancouver.wsu.edu
http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/tissot/home.htm
Below is an email communication with Rene herself trying to justify where she gets her "data" and
quotes from....
From: "Rene Umberger" <octopus @maui.net>
Date: December 10, 2009 7:38:56 AM HST
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: RE: Article in Maui News 11/27/09 by Renee Umberger
Hi XXXX - did we meet at the Maui Ocean Center last year? (I had a table
there with info on the trade.)
As for the sources on underreporting: Dan Polhemus, Director of the Div. of
Aquatic Resources said that the actual number caught is probably between 2 -
5 times what is reported. Tissot reported that the actual catch was much
higher than reported, probably on an order of magnitude. The Wild Havens
Memorandum reported that "the most experienced biologist on the issue
estimates that collection may be under - reported by between 2 to 10 times the
recorded numbers."
The 99% mortality rate within one year comes from Robert Fenner on his
website.
Here's another statistic: state collection reports show that in 2007 over
20,000 reef animals died while in the collectors possession (before they had
a chance to sell them). Again, those numbers are greatly underreported.
The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force reported that Hawaii's reefs are SEVERELY
OVERFISHED by aquarium collectors with targeted species down an average of
59% (14% - 97% range).
Do you know a lot of other residents with saltwater tanks? I'd be happy to
give an educational presentation on the impacts of this trade.
Or you can go to my website: www.FortheFishes.org
Rene
From: Dan.A.Polhemus @hawaii.gov
Date:
December 14, 2009 9:45:50 AM HST
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cc:
Dan.A.Polhemus @hawaii.gov
Subject: Fw: Your quote is being used is it accurate?
XXXX -
Please provide context for the quote cited.
Is this in relation the the aquarium industry? If so, I don't believe I have ever cited such numbers. I
doubt that there is any commercial fishery in the State with a level of under - reporting that large.
- Dan Polhemus
Dr. DAN A. POLHEMUS
Division of Aquatic Resources
State of Hawaii DLNR
1151 Punchbowl St.
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: (808) 587 -0100
e -mail: Dan.A.Polhemus @hawaii.gov