Hawaii Fish Ban Update

[Freenow54]

From a couple of sources . . . . . . .
The Hawaiian aquarium fishery has been shut down due to a court order requiring an environmental review. The court requirements have been satisfied and the State is moving forward in the permitting process. This is a two part meeting. The first is April 12, where DAR (Division of Aquatic Resources) will present the status of the fishery to the Land Board in a 92 page scientific analysis. Pending the outcome of the meeting Friday, a second meeting will occur in 6-8 weeks.

Nothing has gone according to plan in this process, so we should
not be surprised the opposition has requested the Board to ban the fishery at the April 12 meeting as well.

We need your assistance, now, and in a few months. We urge you to send a simple email to the Land Board.
CLICK HERE to send an email. (Correct email included)

You can elaborate as much as you like, but be clear in your position in the first sentence.

Click here for a Link to the recent findings by DAR that will be presented on Friday that you can review.

Yes sent mine more bureaucrats and emotional activists with no scientific research

 

[NigelRichardson]

thanks for the update @vetteguy53081
….but will yellow tanks still sell north of $200 ?

If I told you that Yellow Tangs are North of A$1,000 here in Australia, you'd think I'm joking... It's not 1-Apr - so no I'm not...

 

[jchl2000]

I may be in the minority here, but I hope the ban stays in place, unless it truly is sustainable for the fish populations. Maybe another decade of the ban would be best. I personally don't care if certain fish aren't available for my aquarium or if captive breds aren't as nice. I own 3 Biota YTs and they look just fine to me..if that means not plucking them from the ocean, I'm not selfish enough to demand a bright yellow to stare at for my own personal enjoyment at the expense of the YT wild populations.

I completely agree! We have proved that we will destroy reefs I’m happy with local breeders.

 

[rsmbudgetbuild2024]

Time will tell
It’s been a Long time

There’s one in a tank shutdown town over that would let him go for $75 to me.. don’t rule out tank shutdowns. I totally would but I really prefer to start with a small one under 2”.

Just search ‘yellow tang’ in your local marketplace listings search and expand search radius. May already have a few there.

 

[iReefer12]

I just want a Tinkeri Butterflyfish… I don’t think they are even on the new list of 8 species, or has the list expanded?

 

[davidflagg]

Oh yeah I'm aware of the hurdles to ship to/from Hawaii to the mainland. I wasn't talking in terms of interstate, I live in Hawaii so it puzzled me as to why they can ship goods and livestock within the state to customers. Hell I'd even fly over to the Big Island and pick it up myself if that makes it easier lol

Used to live there. Miss it dearly. How's the weather? Last time I was there it felt like the sun was microwaving your skin off, trade winds weren't doing squat.

I used to visit the lagoons at Ko Olina, definitely the most memorable thing I saw there was a group of 3-4 humu triggerfish trapped in one of the little tidepools there. Just minding their own business. Had half a mind to snag them but I didn't feel like getting slapped with some fine.

 

[SoloSuperman]

thanks for the update @vetteguy53081
….but will yellow tanks still sell north of $200 ?

Yes. The price has been set by the market unfortunately and people will pay the premium price. The only thing it means is prices “shouldn’t” go up.

 

[litsoh]

Used to live there. Miss it dearly. How's the weather? Last time I was there it felt like the sun was microwaving your skin off, trade winds weren't doing squat.

I used to visit the lagoons at Ko Olina, definitely the most memorable thing I saw there was a group of 3-4 humu triggerfish trapped in one of the little tidepools there. Just minding their own business. Had half a mind to snag them but I didn't feel like getting slapped with some fine.

We're (hopefully) reaching the end of the rainy season right now, but apparently there's gonna be a storm here for a few more days.

Yeah it's pretty easy to get fish from the tide pools here. If you think Ko Olina is good you should have been to the Makapu'u tidepools. Now those are something else. My friend actually caught his snowflake eel and had a hinalea in his tank for a few years until he returned it.

 

[Biokabe]

Yes. The price has been set by the market unfortunately and people will pay the premium price. The only thing it means is prices “shouldn’t” go up.

It's not so cut and dried.

With restricted supply? Yes, the market has spoken. There are certain numbers of people willing to pay more for yellow tangs, and the solution to the supply/demand equation stabilized the price at around $175 for a captive-bred tang, $300-$600 for wild-caught.

But if supply increases, then wholesalers will be left with excess fish that won't sell at that elevated price. That means fish will linger in their tanks, costing sellers more with every day they remain unsold. Eventually people will start lowering the price on them, until they finally reach the price equilibrium where they can sell all of their tangs within an acceptable time frame.

What will that new price be? Other than believing it'll be lower than what we're currently paying, I'm not confident enough to say. Certainly I don't think it'll be back to pre-ban pricing anytime soon, if it ever goes back there. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Hawaiian yellow tangs settle in at $100-$150 once the ban is fully lifted and regular supply is restored.

 

[SlasherZ]

Email sent! Thanks for the update.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

From a different perspective is when you see half of these “aquarium fish” laid out on ice at some “3rd world” fish market waiting to be dinner. (don’t care for term 3rd world)

This is going to happen regardless, native people have to eat. It’s not a reason to take even more. And this happens less in Hawaii than other places.

 

[vetteguy53081]

The lfs will still jack the price up till everyone gets over the hype and the demand dies down! Then you’ll see them for $40 again.

Especially with them realizing what people were paying the last 3 years - totally agree

 

[KandAReefs]

This is going to happen regardless, native people have to eat. It’s not a reason to take even more. And this happens less in Hawaii than other places.

The amount of fish taken by this hobby is so small in % of lost fish. This is nothing more then people tring to make themselves feel good and say they are doing something. But they have no real interest in combating the real problems. Reef keepers can't put the money for lobbyists up to combat laws so they are easy to pass. It is what it is we pay more for a fish so someone can sleep a little better at nite. And nothing really changes for the animals.

 

[litsoh]

The amount of fish taken by this hobby is so small in % of lost fish. This is nothing more then people tring to make themselves feel good and say they are doing something. But they have no real interest in combating the real problems. Reef keepers can't put the money for lobbyists up to combat laws so they are easy to pass. It is what it is we pay more for a fish so someone can sleep a little better at nite. And nothing really changes for the animals.

The amount taken for hobby collection is negligible in comparison to the overfishing or the negative impacts of pollution that happens here. The attention that is going to something as trivial an issue as this could be better spent on the actual issues here in the islands such as the growing homeless numbers or overtourism, etc.

If anything this hobby contributes more towards the conservation and education of these ecosystems.

This is going to happen regardless, native people have to eat. It’s not a reason to take even more. And this happens less in Hawaii than other places.

Other than some overlapping tang species, there is little/no similarities in the species of fish that people here target as a food source. I promise you we're not diving around to look for wrasses or butterflies to throw on the grill.

 

[ReefStash]

Following

 

[Vested]

Any updates on how the meeting on Friday went?

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Tinkerii Butterflyfish Hybrid TBH1

Chaetodon Tinkerii Hybrid Shows a gold crown similar to Chaetodon flavocoronatus and gold on beak. Gorgeous fish!

schooloffishonline.com

I just want a Tinkeri Butterflyfish… I don’t think they are even on the new list of 8 species, or has the list expanded?

 

[areefer01]

Now those are something else. My friend actually caught his snowflake eel and had a hinalea in his tank for a few years until he returned it.

Returned it where?

 

[iReefer12]

Tinkerii Butterflyfish Hybrid TBH1

Chaetodon Tinkerii Hybrid Shows a gold crown similar to Chaetodon flavocoronatus and gold on beak. Gorgeous fish!

schooloffishonline.com

I guess I don’t want one that bad, yikes!

 

[Kona Diver]

The amount taken for hobby collection is negligible in comparison to the overfishing or the negative impacts of pollution that happens here. The attention that is going to something as trivial an issue as this could be better spent on the actual issues here in the islands such as the growing homeless numbers or overtourism, etc.

If anything this hobby contributes more towards the conservation and education of these ecosystems.



Other than some overlapping tang species, there is little/no similarities in the species of fish that people here target as a food source. I promise you we're not diving around to look for wrasses or butterflies to throw on the grill.

And most of the islands don’t suffer from localized pollution issues like in Maui or Oahu. Here on Big Island, our rugged coastline is fresh black lava flows so it’s undeveloped, inaccessible by shore and acts as a safe guard for the fringing reefs from land based man made pollution. I’ve dove the most remote parts of the islands and most of our coastlines are in outstanding shape

People speaking as if there’s a resource problem are in denial of the science and or just don’t know anything about our reefs/resource here in Hawaii. It’s a shame they’ll wade into a topic they don’t know much about and take positions so strong they’ll support shutting someone’s livelihoods down on a rock thousands of miles away from them. Couldn’t be me.