Protect Hawaiʻi’s reefs, ban commercial aquarium collection
There are TWO critical opportunities this week to protect Hawaiʻi’s reefs from the aquarium trade—please take a moment to act now!
At the same time that the state is advancing rules that could reopen West Hawaiʻi reefs to large-scale aquarium fish collection, the legislature is considering a bill that could stop the aquarium collection industry once and for all. Together, these proposals will determine whether Hawaiʻi continues to protect its reefs from the ornamental aquarium trade — or allows the aquarium collection industry to return.
Before aquarium collection was halted in 2017, millions of reef fish were removed from West Hawaiʻi for the global aquarium trade—fish that are essential to healthy reefs, shoreline protection, cultural practices, and local food systems. Today, our reefs are already under pressure from global warming, ocean acidification, and other impacts. Reopening the aquarium fishery would put them at even greater risk, for the benefit of a defunct industry and at the expense of the public.
In 2023, the Board of Land and Natural Resources supported a community proposal to ban aquarium collection statewide. However, last year, the Land Board approved holding public hearings for Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR)-proposed rules that would instead re-establish commercial aquarium collection in West Hawaiʻi, and provide a framework to do the same in the rest of Hawaiʻi’s nearshore waters. Public hearings for these rules will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Meanwhile, a bill in the Hawaiʻi legislature has the potential to put an end to commercial aquarium collection in Hawaiʻi’s once and for all. This bill originally would have prohibited commercial aquarium collection throughout our islands, but has since been amended to only prohibit aquarium collection on Oʻahu, and only until the Division of Aquatic Resources’ Holomua Initiative has completed its rulemaking proceedings. This measure is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday.
Plan to testify in opposition to DAR’s proposed rules on Tuesday or Wednesday and submit written testimony on the legislature’s proposed bill in support of critical amendments to ban commercial aquarium collection statewide. Details and sample testimony below.
Act Now: DAR Proposed Rules
Testify by Zoom (pae ʻāina-wide)
Tuesday, March 31
5:30-8:30pm
Register here
Attend in person (Hawaiʻi Island)
Wednesday, April 1
Kealakehe High School Cafeteria, 74-5000 Puohulihuli Street, Kailua-Kona
4:30-8:30pm
Talking points (courtesy of aole-aq.org):
Reef fish belong on the reef — not in aquariums.
Millions of reef fish were already taken from West Hawaiʻi reefs for the aquarium trade.
Reef fish help keep coral reefs healthy.
Our reefs are already under pressure from climate change and other impacts.
Hawaiʻi’s reefs are too important and too vulnerable to risk reopening a fishery targeting critically needed species, like lauʻīpala (yellow tang) and other herbivores.
Submit written testimony (pae ʻāina-wide)
By Sunday, April 12
Email to: DAR.Testimony@hawaii.gov
Subject line: Testimony in opposition to proposed aquarium collection rules
Sample testimony (feel free to add your own experiences and perspectives!):
To Whom it May Concern,
My name is ___ and I live in ___. I respectfully urge you to reject the proposed aquarium fish collection rules.
These rules go against the Land Board’s previous direction to prohibit commercial aquarium collection to the greatest extent possible, and would instead allow the aquarium industry to return to West Hawaiʻi reefs.
Reef fish—especially herbivores—are essential to healthy coral reefs, which protect our shorelines, support local food systems, and sustain cultural and subsistence practices. Reopening this fishery will risk further harm to already stressed reef ecosystems and prioritizes immense private profit at the expense of our shared public trust resources.
Please stand with the community and uphold your constitutional obligation to protect Hawaiʻi’s fragile reefs and the public interests that they support. Do not move forward with these rules.
Mahalo for your consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Act Now: HB2101 HD1 SD1
Previous versions of HB2101 HD1 SD1 would have stopped the ecologically and culturally harmful commercial aquarium industry from being reopened on Hawaiʻi Island, after having been shut down since 2017. Although it now only prohibits commercial aquarium collection on Oʻahu, with amendments, this bill could once again make clear that our reefs should not be exploited for the profit-driven aquarium trade. This measure is being heard on Thursday, April 2, at 9:20am in Capitol room 229, before the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary Committees (watch online here).
Sample testimony for HB2101 HD1 SD1
Aloha Chair Keohokālole, Chair Rhoads, Vice Chair Fukunaga, Vice Chair Gabbard, and members of the Committees,
My name is [your name], and I SUPPORT HB2101 HD1 SD1 WITH AMENDMENTS to reinstate the original statewide ban on commercial aquarium collection.
After years of controversy and concern, including from Native Hawaiian subsistence fishing communities, the aquarium collection industry was shut down by court order in 2017 and has remained closed for nearly a decade. However, the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) is poised to reopen West Hawaiʻi’s waters through proposed rules it claims are required under current law. This bill is a critical opportunity to make clear in statute that Hawaiʻi’s waters should not be reopened to the ornamental aquarium trade, in West Hawaiʻi or anywhere else across our island chain.
While I appreciate the intent of the current draft, limiting a commercial aquarium collection ban to Oʻahu—and only temporarily—falls short of the protections our reefs and communities need. The imminent reopening of West Hawaiʻi’s waters to aquarium collection in particular calls for the legislature to expand the current prohibitions of this measure beyond Oʻahu, to apply permanently to all waters of Hawaiʻi.
Reef fish, especially herbivorous species targeted by collectors, are essential to healthy coral reefs that protect our shorelines, support food systems, and sustain cultural and subsistence practices. When the industry was active, the removal of hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of reef fish each year had disproportionate impacts on reef health, particularly in West Hawaiʻi. This in turn undermined ecological balance, cultural practices, food systems, and myriad other public interests in our aquatic public trust resources.
With our reefs - and coral reefs worldwide - growing ever more vulnerable to irreversible collapse, we should not be inviting back an industry with such a history of harm, and that could further stress our reef ecosystems beyond the point of no return.
Communities across Hawaiʻi have consistently called for stronger, lasting protections of our nearshore waters—not a return of harmful industries like the aquarium trade. It is far past time for the legislature to finally reflect the will of the majority of concerned constituents, and to put an end to the commercial aquarium collection industry in Hawaiʻi, once and for all.
Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Committees to strengthen this bill by reinstating a statewide, permanent ban on commercial aquarium collection.
Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven't yet (you'll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter “HB2101” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information, select “SUPPORT” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure," write or copy/paste your testimony. No verbal testimony will be accepted.
Spread the word!