Kaua‘i County Council Urges the Legislature to Ban Aquarium Trade Statewide
Nov
21
Written by:
Ret Talbot
11/21/2011 3:19 PM
The second of five counties in Hawai'i have now voted urging the state to ban the marine aquarium trade. Many close to the debate over the marine aquarium fishery contend the vote was influenced by misinformation and misused statistics that seek to frame an ethical debate as a resource issue. The local media's response appears uncritical and potentially makes it more difficult for multi-stakeholder groups to work toward collaborative solutions that can ensure sustainability.
Two of the five counties in the state of Hawai‘i have now voted to urge the State to prohibit the sale of aquatic life for aquarium purposes. Echoing action taken by the Hawai‘i County Council in early October, Kaua‘i County Council recently voted unanimously to include in the 2012 Kaua‘i County Legislative Package a proposed draft resolution urging the Legislature to ban the collection of marine life for the aquarium trade statewide. The proposed draft resolution was brought to the Council by Councilmember KipuKai Kuali‘i (pictured here). Kuali‘i was approved last April by the Kaua‘i County Council to fill the seat vacated by former Councilman Derek Kawakami when he was chosen by Governor Neil Abercrombie to represent the 14th District in the State House.
The Significance of the Vote
While the vote is non-binding and has no immediate impact on the fishery, it is significant in that it makes the Kaua‘i County Council the second legislative body to advocate for a statewide ban. Stakeholders in the fishery, as well as the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), maintain the State’s marine aquarium fisheries can be fished sustainably. Having said that, there are those on both sides of the aquarium fishery debate who believe additional regulations will allow for better management. Crafting more stringent regulations based on available data and stakeholder input has been challenging but is, in the opinion of many, yielding positive results. Individuals involved in supporting better management express concern that resolutions and bills to ban the trade, which have little chance of passing at the state level, could derail ongoing collaborative work by shifting the focus away from multi-stakeholder collaboration.
“A vote such as this polarizes the issue and distracts us from dealing with the real issues,” one marine aquarium fisher from O‘ahu commented upon learning of the vote. O‘ahu fishers have
recently proposed a rules package that would better regulate the fishery in the waters around O‘ahu. That rules package was largely embraced at
a public meeting hosted by DLNR last week. Another much more comprehensive rules package intended to better regulate West Hawai‘i's marine aquarium fishery is in the final stages of administrative review and should be enacted in early 2012. The Big Island rules package was the result of many hours of volunteer work by members of the West Hawai'i Fisheries Coucil (WHFC). The WHFC is a multi-stakeholder group created to better manage the fishery.
The Local Media
While the vote itself caused consternation amongst many who contend the marine aquarium fishery in Hawai‘i can be fished sustainably, an article about the vote, which ran in The Garden Island on Saturday, 19 November, has many fuming. Chief amongst many critics’ concerns is that the article presents as fact many commonly misquoted, misused and out-of-context statistics.
In the article, entitled
“Not Many Nemos”, staff writer Léo Azambuja cites Robert Wintner as his source when he writes, “[t]oday there are barely any yellow tangs [on Big Island’s Kohala Coast].” Wintner is a Maui resident and the owner of Snorkel Bob’s, and he has led efforts to ban the marine aquarium trade in Hawai’i. Azambuja also cites Rene Umberger, another prominent anti-trade activist from Maui, when he writes the DLNR “concedes” that aquarium collection has “caused the number of yellow tangs to drop by 73 percent in Big Island’s west coast.”
Dr. William Walsh, Big Island-based state aquatic biologist with the DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), is as familiar with Big Island’s marine aquarium fishery as anyone. Azambuja did not contact Walsh to verify or comment on the statements made about the Big Island fishery in the article, and Walsh takes issue with many of the statistics presented uncritically as facts in The Garden Island article.
“There is so much misinformation reported uncritically in this article that it’s beyond redemption,” says Walsh. “Today there are barely any yellow tangs in Kohala? Balderdash. There’s hundreds of thousands of yellow tangs on Kohala's reefs.” When it comes to the oft-cited 73 percent statistic, Walsh notes that, based on the monitoring data, “the number of yellow tangs in the 30’-60’ depth range has actually increased by 15 percent over the past 12 years.” In short, the data overwhelmingly supports the fact that
yellow tang populations are up on the Kona Coast of Big Island, yet misinformation about the Big Island fishery, and especially populations of yellow tang, helped compel the members of the Council to vote in favor of a ban.
Blatant Misuse of Data to Frame an Ethical Argument as One about Sustainability
Some closest to the debate express concern about the blatant misuse of data and misinformation to transform an ethical argument against aquarium keeping into an argument about sustainability and resource management. Even some of those traditionally against the aquarium fishery like Tina Owens of the Lost Fish Coalition say they would prefer to work together with all the stakeholders to come to a compromise rather than return to the deeply divisive days of two entrenched camps unwilling to concede any ground.
As Walsh puts it:
“Wintner continues to blatantly misuse data to support his ethical conflicts clothed in the mantle of sustainability. John F. Kennedy captures this approach perfectly: ‘The greatest enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.’”
Copyright ©2011
4 comment(s) so far...
Re: Kaua‘i County Council Urges the Legislature to Ban Aquarium Trade Statewide
It seems that Snorkel Bob and his cronies are still regurgitating the same old bile. You could almost respect the man if he would just come out and say "BAN ALL AQUARIUMS", but instead he prefers to cloak himself in a super hero cape and proclaim he is trying to save the reefs. To portray himsellf in this way makes it very difficult to truly debate and resolve whatever issues there might or could be with the fishery as he couldnt care less. I don't think he even accepts the term fishery.
If as Mahatma Ghandi states, "honest disagreement is a sign of progress", boy I feel sorry for you guys in Hawaii. There's a long road ahead!
By Dale Pritchard on
11/21/2011 5:12 PM
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Re: Kaua‘i County Council Urges the Legislature to Ban Aquarium Trade Statewide
I think this discussion is interesting. I attended a function that Rene/For the Fishes was giving a presentation. How she states data is and always has been slighted. She will tell you that the aquarium fisherman collect 80% of achilles tangs, and while this is a portion of the data Rene fails to mention that this stat is in the 60' range...where most of the achilles do not live. If not for someone directly involved in the data collection there to make her clarify, she would have shown her typical quoted stat and continue to mislead the public. While she is using data, the way she presents it in a way that leaves out the important parts is what is misleading people. She also does not like to speak about the volume of reef fish taken for food compared to what aquarium fisherman take as the ratios are jaw dropping.(yes, naso achilles kole and many others are eaten locally) Why what is okay for dinner is not okay as a pet has been something I have never figured out, because you would think that if you wanted to protect the fish, you would have rules that apply to all. The problem with this movement is that it does not address real problems, which Hawaii has many. Even if aquarium fishing becomes illegal in Hawaii, the volume of fish on the reef more than likely will not change...and the sea will not become yellow as they like to say it looked like many many years ago due to the volume of yellow tangs along the coast. While there may have been more fish 20,30, and even 50 years ago, there were also less people, pollution, golf corses,resorts and hotels, run off etc etc. The aquarium fishery has been around since the 70s(maybe even before) in Hawaii and when the enviromental movement began the typical catch phrase was "there are no fish left" now if this was the case, how are fisherman able to catch fish year after year? The longer science studies this fishery the more we find out about how great mother nature is and if you work with her you will have a continued perpetual harvest. Unfortuantly, the enviromental movement is not about sustainability they are against keeping fish as pets. Rene has stated that "once she has protected Hawaii, she will head to Florida to stop the trade there". Personally, I would purchase the first class ticket to make this happen, but I would not wish this malice, harrassment,lies and mis information on anyone.
By Kona Kim on
11/22/2011 3:03 PM
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Re: Kaua‘i County Council Urges the Legislature to Ban Aquarium Trade Statewide
"Rene has stated that "once she has protected Hawaii, she will head to Florida to stop the trade there". " I'm wondering if you have a citation for that. It would be most interesting to see the context,as well as to be able to directly attribute that quote as more than secondhand. I say that, because if true, it drives home that this is indeed EVERYONE's fight, not just a local Hawaiian issue.
By Matt Pedersen on
11/22/2011 8:55 PM
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Re: Kaua‘i County Council Urges the Legislature to Ban Aquarium Trade Statewide
Matt,
Rene was asked at a presentation if she would go after the fisherman who collect reef fish for food next(after the aquarium fisherman). She responded, very un easy with the question...with "once Hawaii's fish are protected she would go to Florida". Yes, this is "everyone's fight" as you get to know who you are dealing with and who they are dealing with this will be a global issue. Trust me, as I have more experience with Rene in person than most(with the exception of elected officials as that is where she spends her time) and she knows no boundaries and will stop at nothing to convince people of her way.
By Kona Kim on
11/22/2011 9:35 PM
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