Bill Text: HI SCR135 | 2021 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requesting That The Year 2022 Be Designated As The Year Of Limu.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-04-08 - Report adopted. referred to the committee(s) on WAL as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) McDermott excused (1). [SCR135 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2021-SCR135-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
135 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THAT THE YEAR 2022 BE DESIGNATED AS THE YEAR OF LIMU.
WHEREAS, limu is a crucial part of a healthy and productive reef ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, limu is the primary producer and, therefore, the base of the nearshore marine food chain; and
WHEREAS, limu is a key indicator of the health and resilience of an ahupuaa, filtering runoff from the land, and providing protection for juvenile fish; and
WHEREAS, limu was once the third important component, along with fish and poi, of the traditional Native Hawaiian diet; and
WHEREAS, limu was used for food, medicinal, cultural, and religious purposes, such as the conflict resolution process of hooponopono; and
WHEREAS, most limu-based cultural knowledge has been lost throughout many generations due to a lack of knowledge and awareness of limu's significance; and
WHEREAS, there has been a steep decline of limu throughout the State and a correlating decline in the amount of nearshore fish due to the pressures related to the climate crisis, proliferation of non-native algae, urbanization pressures, and polluted and diverted stream flows; and
WHEREAS, the lack of knowledge and awareness about limu hinders efforts to increase Hawaii's population of nearshore fish due to the loss of cultural connection to limu and limu practices; and
WHEREAS, despite
the historic trauma caused by the loss of culture, land, and identity, native Hawaiians
remain resilient and are determined to transmit to future generations the knowledge
and practices by limu practitioners and kūpuna, whose passion for limu perpetuated the deeper sociocultural
ties of limu to the peoples of this State; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott was the first
native Hawaiian woman to receive a doctoral degree in science and was considered
the world's leading expert on limu, discovering over two hundred species of seaweeds;
and
WHEREAS, Uncle Henry Chang Wo, Jr., was a recognized
loea limu (limu expert) who worked to create a limu management area in Ewa Beach
who worked tirelessly to call attention to the detrimental effects of government
policy and development projects to limu and to the nearshore marine environment;
and
WHEREAS, grassroots organizations such as Kua‘āina Ulu ‘Auamo (KUA) help to empower and create capacity among limu practitioners, while others, such as the Waimānalo Limu Hui work tirelessly to regrow limu and, thus, reclaim their cultural space; and
WHEREAS, recapturing, retaining, and sharing cultural and environmental knowledge about limu will benefit nearshore fisheries and all the people of Hawaii for many generations; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the House of Representatives concurring, that this body requests the Governor for the year 2022 be declared the Year of Limu; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of KUA, and Limu Hui Coordinator of KUA.
Year of the Limu
