HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0118.008 2014-2016HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY
NSU Marine Labnra torr
Feb. 13, 2015
County Council
County of Hawaii
Hawai'i County Building
25 Aupuni Street - -
Hilo, Hawaii 96720 ?
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RE: Testimony in Opposition to Bill 24
Aloha County Council Members,
I am writing in opposition to Bill 24. The bill is not supported by decades of scientific evidence
which indicates that the West Hawaii aquarium fishery is being sustainably harvested. The
provisions on this bill are not necessary and complete ignore the results of 15 years of scientific
research, committee meetings, and community discussions that have successfully created one
of the best managed aquarium fisheries in the world. Importantly, the community-based
management in West Hawaii was facilitated by the West Hawaii Fisheries Council and
developed in conjunction with a large number of diverse stakeholders, including the native
Hawaiian community, and therefore has extensive regional support.
I have been working in West Hawaii since 1992 when I served on the faculty at the University of
Hawaii at Hilo until 1998; as faculty member at Washington State University since 1998, and at
Humboldt State University since 2013. 1 have conducted numerous research projects on the
aquarium fishery in West Hawaii including evaluating the effectiveness of the West Hawaii
Regional Fishery Management Area (I helped author both the 2005 and 2010 Legislative
reports), research on the habitat, ecology and genetics of aquarium fish, and the dynamics and
long-term sustainability of the aquarium fishery. As a marine scientist I have authored or co-
authored over 20 scientific papers on West Hawaii through more than 20 funded research
projects, many supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the
State of Hawaii.
Based on my 20 years of conducting research on the aquarium trade, which includes studies on
the international trade, I have concluded that West Hawaii is one of the bestmanagedaquarium
fisheries in the world. External evidence to support this assertion was an invitation and
presentation I made on the results of our research at the "Success Stories in Ocean
Conservation' symposium sponsored by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History of 2009
and an independent scientific review of the West Hawaii Fishery Replenishment Areas (Rossiter
and Levine, 2013, Marine Policy) which concluded that West Hawaii was an unusual
conservation "success." However, to continue this distinction I am writing to urge you to use the
best available science when making a decision on this bill which as it stands now is not based
on any actual research which would improve the aquarium industry.
Comm. No. /1?. "
-. Ref. Da F/ 6
Ref. Date F—FA 120 tll �
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Thank you in advance for this opportunity to provide this testimony.
Mahalo,
Brian Tissot, Ph.D.
Director and Professor, Marine Laboratory, Humboldt State University
Tissot@llumboldt.edu
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