HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0099.004 2014-2016COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAII ,
RECEIVED
In Opposition to Communication 99 Time 1: 3yi/M By
Date . ji-/ 1�5
Good Afternoon County Council Members,
My name is Bob Hajek and I am President of the BIAAF. I am here right now to bring to your attention
the most egregious of all the misinformation just presented to you in the attempts by Ms. Musik & Ms.
Telecky at manipulating you all into believing their clever deceptions.
There is so much misinformation it's nothing short of amazing really. Let's just start with Ms. Musik's
presentation.
The biggest problem here is when Ms. Musik brings up the Puako/Pauoa areas and talks about how
"in these areas herbivores are down 90%, coral cover is down 35%, Algae in up 38% at Puako and up
322% at Pauoa", like it's the aquarium fishery's fault.
These statements may or may not be true. The point here is it is irrelevant. The 2 fishing areas they
reference, Puako and Pauoa both lie within marine protected areas established in 1999. Aquarium
fishermen have not fished here, in the Puako/Pauoa corridor for the past 16 years! So what does this
have to do with us, other than it is fake information about our fishery that our opponents are trying
to con you with. If the county council really wants to fix this problem, try looking at the real culprits
here: the Waikoloa Stream, construction/development run off and general area specific pollution.
Aquarium fishermen are never there!
As for Ms. Telecky presentation, well we have more of the same.
Ms. Telecky's reference to "Saving Nemo; Mariculture and Market Based Solutions... 2012" to
support her claims of fish deaths in the supply chain is yet another example of how the opponents of
the West Hawaii aquarium fishery will do whatever it takes to achieve their goal. The 177 page paper
is a study done on the aquarium fisheries of the Coral Triangle. This is an area located in Southeast
Asia, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. This fishery is the opposite of the West
Hawaii aquarium fishery. The West Hawaii aquarium fishery is recognized around the world, by
people who know, as the gold standard in aquarium fishery practices. The Coral Triangle is not.
These are suggestions made to their fishery, not ours. Nowhere in the entire 177 page paper is there
any reference to the West Hawaii aquarium fishery. So why would they be using information from
this source when discussing our fishery? Maybe because, again, they really don't have anything on us
and the best they can do is deceive you into believing that what they are talking about applies to our
aquarium fishery. All the information on slides 5 & 6 are from this Coral Triangle paper. Throw in a
picture of fish taken in Hawaii onto the slide and the con is complete. They have no science on us so
they fake their science from somewhere else.
Why don't you hold them accountable for their manipulation of information?
Why don't you ask them 2 simple questions:
1. Is this paper based on information gathered in the "Coral Triangle", an aquarium fishing area in
Southeast Asia? Their answer must be "Yes". I can prove it right here.
2. Where in the 177 page report does it even once make any reference to West Hawaii's aquarium
fishery? Their answer must be "Nowhere". I can also prove that.
So, with these 2 facts established, and all the misinformation in Ms. Musik's testimony, you have to
ask yourselves 1 more question: Why should I believe these people? The answer is clear, "You
shouldn't".
They are master deceivers, practicing their craft with you right here, right now.
See these people for what they are!
Comm. No I q'
Ref. To:rl I%5(---
fef. �.3ate 7 2015