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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1145.073 2012-2014Testimony on Bill 318 Page I of I Testimony on Bill 318 X DELETE (— REPLY 4K— REPLY ALL FORWARD ••• Emily Munday <emily.rnuncIay@gmail.com> mark as unread Mon 11/17/2014 11:44 AM as To: Council Testimony; @j I attachr-nent 4 11 C-) C-) EM testimon --.docx Please find my testimony pertaining to Bill 318 attached. Best, Emily 11 q�' C On .73 Ref. Ro . Dc;ie ____ -NOV 18 2014 https:Hwebmail.hawaiicounty.gov/owa/ 11/17/2014 November 17, 2012 RE: Testimony in Opposition to Bill 318 Aloha County Council Members, I am writing in opposition to Bill 318 regarding the treatment of aquarium life. For my master's research at Washington State University, I studied the West Hawaii aquarium trade from 2010 -2012. Part of my study focused on holding and transport of live yellow tang in the West Hawaii aquarium trade. My research on fish holding and transport indicated that the practices implemented by Hawaiian fish exporters do not cause mortality in yellow tang. In June of 2012, 1 collaborated with fishers and exporters in Kona, and caught 60 yellow tang from the reef, held them in a working export facility, and shipped them from Kona, HI to Portland, OR. The fish were then transported to the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, OR where they resided for 6 months. My study shows 100% survival rate of these tangs during collection, holding in the export facility, air transport, and after a 6 -month holding period. In fact, the fish have now become part of an exhibit at the Hatfield Marine Science Center about sustainability in the aquarium trade and I have received no reports of mortality after 2.5 years. In addition, I now would like to specifically address Sections 01 and 4b2: Section 01 would prohibit the withholding of food from aquarium life for 24h. In my study, fish were withheld food in the export facility and during transport. Withholding food serves a very important purpose for fish transport. Withholding food prevents fish from fouling their bags. If they are unable to "clean out" their system prior to transport, they will foul their bags, creating a buildup of ammonia, which is toxic to fish. Therefore, withholding food is a best practice to be used prior to shipping fish and any regulation prohibiting food withholding is uninformed and would be detrimental to fish health. Section 02 would prohibit transport of fish in less than one gallon of water. In my study, aquarium exporters used the standard volume of water to transport the tang, and discussed above, no mortality occurred. The requirement of a gallon of water for fish transport is unnecessary and unfounded. I would like to speak to the sustainability of the Hawaii aquarium trade. The exhibit I helped create at the Hatfield explains the practices of the Hawaii aquarium trade, and how Hawaii's trade differs from other areas of the world. If we take a global perspective, Bill 318 is damaging to the ocean. This is because the demand for aquarium fish is not decreasing, and such a bill would simply shift the demand for aquarium fish from Hawaii where they are collected using nondestructive methods, to places like the Philippines where fishers regularly use cyanide to stun and capture fish and have a tremendously negative impact on reefs there. Though this might seem like just a local or state issue, the reality is that the aquarium trade is a global trade and Hawaii contributes a sustainably sourced product to aquarium fish hobbyists. Thank you for hearing my testimony. Sincerely, Emily S. Munday, M.S.