Hawaii Legal - pertaining to "coral laws" in Hawaii

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All things related to laws in Hawaii regarding corals and the marine tank hobby

This material is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For legal issues that arise, the reader should consult legal counsel.

 

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Overview of Marine Invertebrate laws in Hawaii

Marine Invertebrates and Limu

Coral and Live Rocks Limu

dlnr.hawaii.gov

Coral and Live Rocks

Stony coral Unlawful to take, break or damage, any stony coral, including any reef or mushroom coral. Unlawful to damage any stony coral by any intentional or negligent activity causing the introduction of sediment, biological contaminants, or pollution into state waters. Unlawful to sell or offer for sale any stony coral, except that stony coral rubble pieces or fragments imported for the manufacture and sale of coral jewelry, or dead stony coral obtained through legal dredging operations in Hawaii, may be sold. HAR 13-95 Note: Taking of sand, dead coral, and coral rubble is prohibited statewide by HRS 171-58.5 and HRS 205A-44

Live rocks
Unlawful to take, break or damage, any live rock, defined as any natural hard substrate to which marine life is visibly attached or affixed.
Unlawful to damage any live rock by any intentional or negligent activity causing the introduction of sediment, biological contaminants, or pollution into state waters.
Unlawful to sell any live rock.
HAR 13-95

 

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"Unlawful to take, destroy, possess or sell any pink or gold corals from State waters. Unlawful to take, destroy, or possess any black coral with a base diameter of less than 3/4 inches from State waters. Exceptions: With a permit, to take or possess pink or gold coral for scientific or educational purposes; or to take or possess pink or gold coral for commercial purposes, provided that harvesters make every effort to take only mature colonies of pink coral 10 inches or larger in height. Note: Harvesting of pink, gold or black corals may be suspended at any time. HAR 13-91 "

 

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Copy of the regs from dlnr.hawaii.gov

HAWAII ADMINISTRATIVE RULES - TITLE 13 - DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES - SUBTITLE 4 FISHERIES - PART V PROTECTED MARINE FISHERIES RESOURCES - CHAPTER 95

§13-95-1 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless otherwise provided:

“Stony coral” means any invertebrate species belonging to the Order Scleractinia, characterized by having a hard, calcareous skeleton, that are native to the Hawaiian islands.

Scleractinia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mouth is fringed with tentacles."

 

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Some case law:

CARLISLE v. Dang Van Tran and Sang Tran, Petitioners/Interested Persons-Appellees. (2008) | FindLaw

Case opinion for HI Supreme Court CARLISLE v. Dang Van Tran and Sang Tran, Petitioners/Interested Persons-Appellees.. Read the Court's full decision on FindLaw.

caselaw.findlaw.com

While on patrol, the officers observed individuals on a boat, later determined to be owned by the Trans, pulling up a gill net.   After boarding the Trans' boat and conducting an investigation, the DLNR officers seized the boat and other items based on an alleged illegal taking of stony coral, in violation of Hawai‘i Administrative Regulations (HAR) § 13-95-70 (1998), quoted infra, and the illegal taking of live rocks, in violation of HAR § 13-95-71 (1998), quoted infra, that were found in the gill net.

Ultimately, the circuit court-on motion by the Trans-dismissed the State's verified petition, finding that (1) the State's petition failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and (2) the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the forfeiture claims.   The circuit court's order of dismissal was filed on February 1, 2002;  however, no judgment was entered in the case until December 6, 2004-two years and ten months later.   The State appealed, and the ICA, as previously stated, vacated the circuit court's dismissal.

[O]n the night of October 14, 2000, at around 9:00 p.m., [DLNR], Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement (DOCARE) officers, while on patrol in a DOCARE boat, observed two males in a brightly lit vessel fishing with a large gill net off the Wai‘anae coast of the island of O‘ahu. During their surveillance, the officers witnessed Kalani Baldarama (Baldarama) pulling up a gill net and Dang operating the vessel.   The officers then proceeded to the vessel.   When the officers arrived, they saw Dang and Baldarama pulling up a net without a diver in the water to assist in retrieval of the net.

According to the DOCARE officers, once they arrived at [the Trans]' boat, they identified themselves and stated their intention to conduct an inspection of the boat.   Two of the DOCARE officers boarded [the Trans]' boat while the third officer remained alongside in the DOCARE boat.   The officers told Dang and Baldarama to continue to retrieve the net and requested that they not remove any coral from the net or the boat, as the officers needed to determine whether the coral was alive.

The DOCARE officers stated that Dang became angry at this request and told the officers that if the net was tangled he would send his diver down.   The officers responded that a diver should have been in the water to prevent damage to the coral and it was evident that coral had already been damaged and removed from the water.   While the net was in the process of being pulled in, Baldarama put on his scuba gear and descended to untangle the net and release regulated fish.

The officers stated that[,] even with Baldarama in the water to untangle the net from the bottom, the DOCARE officers on [the Trans]' boat witnessed several “large” pieces of live coral stuck in the net.   According to the officers, Dang attempted to throw back into the water some of the coral stuck in the net and became “enraged” when officers prevented him from doing so.   During this encounter, the officers had to physically restrain Dang in order to prevent him from removing the coral stuck in the net. [3]

Shortly thereafter, Dang calmed down, but began to complain of chest pains and shortness of breath.   The officers then escorted [the Trans]' boat to shore and arranged for an ambulance to pick up Dang to take him for treatment.   Shortly thereafter, Dang's son, Sang, arrived at the harbor and notified the officers that he was the registered owner of the boat.   The officers informed Sang that the boat, the nets, a trailer, the coral found in the nets, and other items left on the boat were being seized as evidence.

 

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Live Rock from Hawaii

Picked up some small pieces of live rock at the reef today, while snorkeling. Should be good to help seed all my base rock. They have coralline and green algae on them :D Saw a lot of angelfish and 2 large wrasses. Makes you appreciate how great the hobby is.

www.livingreefs.com