Hawaiʻi Island CRB Protections Up for Final Approval

Emergency interim rules to prevent the spread and establishment of coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRB) across Hawaiʻi Island are up for final approval by the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity next Tuesday, March 24, at 9 a.m.

Mahalo nui to all who have weighed in on these rules during their prior consideration by the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity and the Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals. These critically needed proposed rules have been kept alive largely because of the broad community support and attention you have helped to demonstrate to the Board as well as Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity staff.

Now, we have just one more approval to go in order for these rules to become law. Please submit written testimony and consider testifying verbally, either virtually via Zoom or in-person at the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity Plant Quarantine Branch, 1849 Auiki Street, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96819. Sample testimony below (and feel free to add your own experiences and perspectives if you wish!). 

Sample E-mail Testimony

To: DAB.BOARD.TESTIMONY@HAWAII.GOV 

Subject: Testimony in SUPPORT of Agenda C-1: Interim CRB Rules for Hawaiʻi Island

Aloha Chair Hurd and members of the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity,

My name is [your name] and I am testifying in STRONG SUPPORT of agenda item C-1, which would establish critically needed interim rules to prevent the potentially devastating spread of coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRB) across Hawaiʻi Island.

I greatly appreciate the Board’s and the Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals’ understanding of the dire, emergency situation facing Hawaiʻi Island, with respect to the daily threat of CRB becoming broadly established well beyond Kona. As you know, the consequences of CRB becoming established throughout Hawaiʻi Island would be devastating to the island’s food security, ecology, cultural integrity, and economy. The widespread establishment of CRB on Hawaiʻi Island would also increase the chances of CRB eggs, larvae, or adults making their way to other islands not currently known to have active CRB infestations.  

By mandating, rather than simply suggesting, best management practices prior to the movement of CRB host material fom Kona, these interim rules would provide a vital layer of protection against the potentially imminent and devastating spread of CRB across Hawaiʻi Island and throughout our island chain.  

Accordingly, I respectfully but strongly urge your continued support of these rules, by voting for their final adoption today.

Mahalo nui,

[your name]