{"id":17076,"date":"2014-06-26T15:56:37","date_gmt":"2014-06-26T07:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=17076"},"modified":"2014-06-26T15:03:26","modified_gmt":"2014-06-26T07:03:26","slug":"environmental-group-targets-hawaii-aquarium-fish-industry-that-scientists-say-is-among-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/06\/26\/environmental-group-targets-hawaii-aquarium-fish-industry-that-scientists-say-is-among-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental group targets Hawaii aquarium fish industry that scientists say is among best"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Coral<\/a>
Coral reef exhibit at Waikiki Aquarium. Photo by Meowmeow10 \/ Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HONOLULU\u2014The waters off the Hawaii\u2019s largest island are home to a half-million brightly-colored tropical fish that are scooped up into nets each year and flown across the globe into aquariums from Berlin to Boston.<\/p>\n

Scientists say the aquarium fishery off the Big Island is among the best managed in the world, but it has nevertheless become the focus of a fight over whether it\u2019s ever appropriate to remove fish from reefs for people to look at and enjoy.<\/p>\n

Activists have launched a campaign to shut down the buying and selling of fish for aquariums, saying the practice from Hawaii to the\u00a0Philippines\u00a0is destroying coral reefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this day and age, where the ocean faces a crisis … there\u2019s absolutely no justification for a fishery for hobby,\u201d said Mike Long of Seattle-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is spearheading the campaign.<\/p>\n

A coalition of fishermen, state regulators and even local environmentalists say the group should focus its attention elsewhere, noting comprehensive aquarium fishery regulations and scientific research that shows fish stocks there are rebounding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a problem here anymore,\u201d said Tina Owens of the local environmental group Lost Fish Coalition.<\/p>\n

Scientists estimate the aquarium trade removes about 30 million fish from reefs around the world. Hawaii accounts for less than 2 per cent, while more than 70 per cent comes from Indonesia and the\u00a0Philippines.<\/p>\n

Some fishermen in these countries capture fish by pumping cyanide into the water to make fish sluggish and easier to catch. The chemical may also harm nearby marine life, as well as shorten the captured fish\u2019s life span. In Hawaii, small nets are used.<\/p>\n

Local collectors may sell one yellow tang\u2014the most commonly caught species on the Big Island\u2019s west coast\u2014for about $3 or $4. With middlemen adding costs to store and ship them, the fish may retail for anywhere between $30 and $60.<\/p>\n

Long said Sea Shepherd would take the campaign to Indonesia and the\u00a0Philippines\u00a0as well, but didn\u2019t offer details.<\/p>\n

The group is known for using aggressive tactics\u2014even violence\u2014to achieve its aims, as when its members rammed Japanese whaling ships in Antarctica and hurled glass containers of acid at the vessels. A federal judge called them pirates.<\/p>\n

Conflict over the aquarium fish industry shot into the limelight last month when Sea Shepherd activists wearing cameras approached two fish collectors working underwater in West Hawaii.<\/p>\n

One collector swam to one of the activists and ripped her scuba air regulator out of her mouth. Both the fish collector and the activist filed complaints against each another. Prosecutors are reviewing evidence but haven\u2019t decided whether to file charges.<\/p>\n

Local activists have long pushed to shut down Hawaii\u2019s aquarium trade.<\/p>\n

Robert Wintner, the owner of the Hawaii dive shop chain Snorkel Bob\u2019s and vice-president of Sea Shepherd\u2019s board, lobbied the state Legislature for years to ban aquarium fish collecting but the bills didn\u2019t pass.<\/p>\n

Wintner and others sued the state in 2012, saying environmental studies should be conducted before collection permits are issued. A state judge rejected the lawsuit, but the plaintiffs are appealing.<\/p>\n

Long said Sea Shepherd came to Hawaii to help Wintner and other local activists. He said the group doesn\u2019t intend to \u201charass, attack or engage an individual fisherman who is trying to put food on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group is focusing on filming and documenting to bring attention to what Long called \u201ca very fragile ecosystem out there that is being depleted for the sole benefit of a multi-billion dollar industry for the home and business hobbyist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fish collectors say the filming isn\u2019t harmless, saying it could scare away skittish fish.<\/p>\n

West Hawaii\u2019s aquarium fish collecting rules date to the late 1990s, when the state Legislature, responding to concerns about declining fish stocks, banned fish collecting along sections of the coastline.<\/p>\n

Today, collecting is prohibited on 35 per cent of the coast.<\/p>\n

Scientific surveys show yellow tang populations have jumped 88 per cent in these areas since the regulations went into effect, said Brian Tissot, a Humbolt State University conservation biologist who has studied the fishery for decades. Numbers of goldring surgeonfish, the second most-caught aquarium fish, climbed 57 per cent.<\/p>\n

The population growth has spilled over into areas where fish collecting is allowed.<\/p>\n

A local fisheries advisory council\u2014made up of environmentalists, divers, fish collectors, tourism industry officials and others\u2014recently moved to strengthen the regulations. Their new rules limit species that collectors may capture to a list of 40.<\/p>\n

Arielle Levine, a San Diego State University marine conservation expert who recently co-authored a paper on the success of the no-collection zones, said they\u2019re doing \u201can impressive job\u201d of protecting and increasing fish populations.<\/p>\n

Other factors harming the area\u2019s coral reefs haven\u2019t been as well managed, she said.<\/p>\n

Reefs are being smothered when sediment and nutrients like fertilizer wash into the ocean from coastal housing and hotel developments. Algae-eating fish that would prevent excessive plant growth from choking the reefs are heavily fished for food.<\/p>\n

Andy Rhyne, an assistant professor at Roger Williams University and New England Aquarium research scientist, said the fishery\u2019s management could still be improved but regulations have \u201creally worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a debate or data or science. It\u2019s an emotional argument,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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