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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0333.008 2010-20128083294786 COUNTY COUNCIL KONA COUNTY COUNCIL KONA 03:45:15 p.m. 09 -20 -2011 2 /4 Tighter rules on tropical fish collection eyed 1 West Hawaii Today http: / /www.westhawaiitoday.com/ sections Mews /local - news /tighter- rules - tropical- fish - collection- eyed.html %23,InZhKubr188. pentfriendly f f^I^ September 18, 2011 BY CHELSEA JENSEN I WEST HAWAII TODAY hill SEP 20 Pf9 3 'j The effectiveness of Fish Replenishment Areas instituted mo.than a decade ago have state officials considering new rules further limiting activities of tropical fish collectors Juj; } , ,; Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources biologist Bill Walsh said Friday the state Attorney General is reviewing draft rules that include components such as a 40- species "white list," daily bag limits, citing species of special concem, closing the Pebble Beach area to collectors and prohibiting scuba spearf shing. The white list outlines which fish aquarium collectors may harvest. The rules would have to pass the state Small Business Regulatory Review Board before public hearings are held on the proposal, Walsh said. "It's remarkable to say that with this list, all these 100s of species are protected from aquarium collectors, and, yet still it maintains the heart of the aquarium fishery," Walsh said. "The vast majority of those species we are comfortable with the level of harvesting." Walsh presented his findings, "Ongoing Management of the West Hawaii Marine Aquarium Fishery -- The 'White List' of Collectible Species," at the Symposium on Kona's Marine Ecosystem: Past, Present and Future. The two -day conference, held at King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel, provided a forum for scientists and managers to discuss historical and ongoing research relative to the Kona Coast. West Hawaii sees 70 percent of all aquarium fish landings statewide, Walsh said and he noted the industry topped $1.4 million between 2007 and 2011. The area also has the most active collection permits issued, 73, and as the number of permits has increased over the years, so has the number of aquarium fish landings. In January 2000, a network of nine Fish Replenishment Areas was established in West Hawaii from Kohala through South Kona. The FRAs collectively prohibit aquarium fish collecting along 32.5 percent of the coastline, Walsh said. The idea behind the network was to address apparent declines of aquarium- collected reef fish and associated user conflicts, he said. Since the implementation of FRAs, some species have seen a turnaround in numbers, Walsh said. One such species is the yellow tang, which accounts for 81 percent of aquarium fish collected in West Hawaii waters. Between 1999 and 2010, yellow tang within the protected areas have numbers 59 percent higher than those living in open areas, he said. In 1999, there were about 15 percent fewer tangs living in replenishment areas than open areas. However, between 2008 and 2010, the percentage of tangs in the replenishment areas was about 68 percent higher than the number in open areas where collectors are allowed to harvest, Walsh explained. Such fish as the bandit angelfish, Hawaiian turkeyfish and teardrop butterflyfish are off the white list of collectible fish because of dwindling populations. As an example, Walsh said the number of bandit angelfish at Puako since the 1970s seems to have decreased by 80 percent. At Honaunau, the bandit angelfish population has decreased 69 percent, he said. Implementing the white list, which includes species that account for about 99 percent of total aquarium fish landings, would likely have little impact on aquarium collectors, Walsh said. The impact might be a 2 percent income loss. Proposed species white list for aquarium collecting, approved by the West Hawaii Fishery Council in September 2010. Bold items have proposed daily bag limits. Comm. No,_ 33 3. O Ref. To: rtewM G RC Pa r�.4 SE 22 p p t t 8083294786 COUNTY COUNCIL KONA COUNTY COUNCIL KONA 1. Yellow Tang Zebrasoma flavescens t. Chevron Tang Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis 3. Goldring Surgeonfish Ctenochaetus strigosus 4. Achilles Tang Acanthurus achilles 5. Tinker's Butterflyfish Chaetodon tinkeri 6. Clown Tang Naso lituratus 7. Forcepsfish Forcipiger flavissimus 8. Goldrim Surgeonfish Acanthurus nigricans 9. Potter's Angelfish Centropyge potteri 10. Fourspot Butterflyfish Chaetodon quadrimaculatus 11. Yellowtail Coris Coris gaimard 12. Ornate Wrasse Halichoeres ornatissimus 13. Orangeband Surgeonfish Acanthurus olivaceus 14. Bird Wrasse Gomphosus varius 15. Eyestripe Surgeonfish Acanthurus dussumieri 16. Multiband Butterflyfish Chaetodon multicinctus 17. Saddle Wrasse Thalassoma duperrey 18. Brown Surgeonfish Acanthurus nigrofuscus 19. Flame Wrasse Cirrhilabrus jordani 20. Thompson's Surgeonfish Acanthurus thompsoni 21. Peacock Grouper Cephalopholis argus 22. Bluestripe Snapper Lutjanus kasmira 23. Redbarred Hawkfish Cirrhitops fasciatus 24. Psychedelic Wrasse Anampses chrysocephalus 25. Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby Canthigaster jactator 26. Fisher's Angelfish Centropyge fisheri 27. Hawaiian Dascyllus Dascyllus aibisella 28. Milletseed Butterflyfish Chaetodon miliaris 29. Blacklip Butterflyfish Chaetodon kleinii 30. Pyramid Butterflyfish Hemitaurichthys polylepis 31. Shortnose Wrasse Macropharyngodon geoffroy 03:45:55 p.m. 09 -20 -2011 3 /4 6 8083294786 COUNTY COUNCIL KONA 32. Black Durgon Melichthys niger COUNTY COUNCIL KONA 33. Spotted Bosh Ostracion meleagris 34. Blackside Hawkfish Paracirrhites forsteri 35. Hawaiian Longfin Anthias Pseudanthias hawaiiensis 36. Eightstripe Wrasse Pseudocheilinus octotaenia 37. Fourstripe Wrasse Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia 38. Smalltail Wrasse Pseudojuloides cerasinus 39. Lei Trigger-fish Sufflamen bursa 40. Gilded Triggerfish Xanthichthys auromarginatus cjensen @westhawaiitoday.com 03:46:12 p.m. 09 -20 -2011 4/4