HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

80

TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

uRging the department of land and natural resources to PROPOSE AND adopt rULes requiring comprehensive marine dealer reportS to allow for tracking, comparison, and verification OF MONTHLY CATCH REPORT DATA to determine overall reporting accuracy and effective resource management of the AQUARIUM fish INDUSTRY.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the aquarium fish industry in Hawaii has expanded significantly over the past decade, with total catch increasing twenty-two per cent and total value increasing forty-four per cent since 2000; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources requires every commercial marine licensee, including aquarium fishers, to submit monthly catch reports under section 189-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     WHEREAS, the data from the catch reports is used by the Department of Land and Natural Resources and federal fisheries management agencies to monitor and assess the health of Hawaii's marine resources; and

 

     WHEREAS, reporting by aquarium fish dealers of their purchases and sales would allow the Department of Land and Natural Resources to verify catch reports for accuracy, but such reporting is currently not required in the Department of Land and Natural Resources's rules; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources's December 2014 "Report on the Findings and Recommendations of Effectiveness of the West Hawaii Regional Fisheries Management Area" included as one of its recommendations that rules should be adopted to require marine dealer reporting; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is urged to propose and adopt rules requiring comprehensive marine dealer reports to allow for tracking, comparison, and verification of monthly catch report data to determine overall reporting accuracy and effective resource management of the aquarium fish industry; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Aquarium Fish; Commercial Fishing Reports