HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0333.005 2010-20128083294786 COUNTY COUNCIL KONA COUNTY COUNCIL KONA 03:35:44 p.m. 09 -20 -2011 2 /3
I oppose Resolution 130 -11 banning the sale of aquatic life to the
aquarium trade. Putting about 30 aquarium fish colpgc8ginheilfri 3
County of Hawai'i out of work will not achieve the objectives of
this resolution. It will, in fact, have a negative impart iLive
Hawaiian fishes are exported around the world. One -fojf Hurt_
reef and shore fishes are found nowhere else, the highest
percentage of endemism. Many people come to our state to see
Hawaiian fishes and other unique marine life as divers or
snorkelers, or to view them at the Waikiki Aquarium, Sea Life
Park, or the Maui Ocean Center. In short, the aquarium fish
collectors clearly serve to promote tourism.
If the State of Hawai'i wants to stop the decline of the
populations of our reef and share fishes, it should do the
following:
Create more Marine Life Conservation Districts like Hanauma Bay on
Oahu and Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island. It is recommended that
20% of the coastline of the islands be set aside as marine
protected areas so that fish can grow to full adult size. The
number of eggs a female fish can produce increases exponentially
with growth. The abundance of prejuvenile fish then recruit to the
80% of our reefs where fishing is allowed.
I am especially opposed to the part of Resolution 130 -11 that
forbids fin clipping. This is done by scientists the world over
for genetic study. It is vital to determine the systematic status
of populations from different areas. I have nipped a bit of fin
from a fish that I have caught while diving, and then released the
fish. The alternative would be to kill the fish. I have had tissue
samples sent to me as fin clips of live fishes in aquaria from as
far away as the Red Sea.
It is necessary for aquarium fish collectors to release gas from
the swimbladder of fishes with a hypodermic needle when bringing
them to the surface from depths greater than a few meters. The
alternative will be high mortality. It is no more painful to a
fish than our getting a flu shot.
Submitted by John E. Randall, PhD, former Senior Ichthyologist of
the Bishop Museum and member of the Graduate Faculty in Zoology at
the University of Hawaii.
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Comm. No. 333. S
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