New Court Ruling Further Restricts Commercial Aquarium Fishing In Hawaii
More than half a million aquarium fish have been collected despite a 2017 state Supreme Court ruling. A new order says that shouldn’t have happened.
A new state environmental court ruling is expected to rein in Hawaii鈥檚 aquarium fish trade and give a boost to opponents of the controversial commercial practice in local waters.
It won鈥檛 bring that practice to an immediate halt, however, and that has some conservationists worried there could be a 鈥渞un on the reefs鈥 by aquarium fish collectors before their permits expire.
First Circuit Judge Jeffrey Crabtree鈥檚 order, issued Friday, found that the state agency responsible for protecting Hawaii鈥檚 nearshore waters has been violating state environmental law because it fails to require the proper environmental reviews for all aquarium fishing.
Previously, in 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court made clear that commercial fishermen needed an approved environmental impact statement if they wanted to use fine-mesh nets to collect aquarium fish.
Still, the Department of Land and Natural Resources continued to issue commercial marine licenses, or 鈥淐MLs,鈥 for the aquarium fishermen who used methods other than mesh nets, under a different state statute.
Crabtree鈥檚 order says that practice violated the state鈥檚 Environmental Policy Act.
In less than three years since that Supreme Court ruling came out, more than half a million fish have been collected from Hawaii waters for aquarium sales, according to figures provided by DLNR to the court.
鈥淭he court finds the current levels of commercial aquarium fish capture 鈥 (are) far more than enough to meet the criteria for HEPA,鈥 Crabtree wrote, referring to the state鈥檚 environmental review process.
DLNR said in a statement Monday that it鈥檚 taking 鈥渋mmediate steps鈥 to comply with Crabtree鈥檚 order. Specifically, it said it won鈥檛 issue any new CMLs for aquarium fishing, nor would it renew the existing licenses.
However, the agency did not say it would cancel the existing CMLs for aquarium fish sales.
Instead, the DLNR statement pointed out that Crabtree had declined to issue an immediate injunction against the licenses as part of his order.
The DLNR鈥檚 statement is 鈥渁 good start鈥 and reflects Crabtree鈥檚 order to come to an agreement, said Mahesh Cleveland, associate attorney with the environmental legal group Earthjustice.
The law firm’s Mid-Pacific office filed suit against DLNR on behalf of longtime aquarium trade opponents such as Willie Kaupiko and Mike Nakachi.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 really predict where this is going to go,鈥 Cleveland said. Earthjustice and its clients are weighing next steps, he added.
鈥淭he concern is that by not invalidating existing CMLs that鈥檒l cause those collectors to do a run on the reef,鈥 Cleveland added.
Such licenses expire after a year, DLNR said. Out of 3,000 CMLs for the state, only 41 report catches for aquarium sales, it added.
The local aquarium trade had generated a lot of contention in recent decades, particularly on Hawaii island鈥檚 Kona side, where there have been numerous reported confrontations and even between harvesters and those determined to stop the trade.
DLNR has also arrested several people for illegal aquarium fishing following the Supreme Court’s 2017 order. In one bizarre episode in September, a well-known Kailua Kona-based aquarium fisherman, Steve Howard, the whereabouts of two divers working with him once they intercepted Howard on the water.
The missing divers prompted a search-and-rescue operation in West Hawaii, but they were later found safe at a gas station with their diving equipment. Howard was arrested.
Members of the local aquarium industry couldn鈥檛 immediately be reached for comment Monday.
