Prices Increase : Yellow tang at 200+$ and more fish also !!

[jeeper014]

Price increase coming , better hurry up !!!

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/SB3225_.htm


Report Title:

Fishing; Ornamental Fish; Bag Limits; No Take Category; Appropriation



Description:

Imposes bag limits on certain ornamental fish; prohibits catching of certain ornamental fish; appropriation





THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
3225

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
 

STATE OF HAWAII
 


 






A BILL FOR AN ACT





RELATING TO FISHING.





BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:





     SECTION 1.  Chapter 188, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§188-    Ornamental fish; bag limit; prohibition; yellow tang stock assessment.  (a)  There shall be a combined bag limit of twenty fish per person per day of ornamental fish, including but not limited to, yellow tang, flame angels, and butterfly; provided that the combined bag limit may include a maximum of only five yellow tang.  No person shall catch, net, or trap more than the bag limit.  The department of land and natural resources shall formulate an annual stock assessment of the yellow tang, beginning September 1, 2008, based upon data existing as of that date to provide an estimated inventory for preservation purposes; provided that the assessment shall be made publicly available.
     (b)  No person shall catch, net, or trap certain ornamental fish in a no-take category, including but not limited to, all puffer fish, all box fish, potter's angel, cleaner wrasse, all coralvores, and all eels.
     (c)  For purposes of this section, the term "ornamental fish" means salt water fish, usually found in or around reefs, that are commonly kept in aquariums.

     (d)  The department of land and natural resources shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 for purposes of this section, including adding other types of ornamental fish."
     SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $100,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 for the yellow tang fish stock assessment as provided in section 1 of this Act.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 2 shall take effect on July 1, 2008.



INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________


 

[xenon]

I understand the yellow tang and flame angel but to just say "butterfly". That way too general.

What exact species of butterfly fish are they talking about?

[speckledmind]

This is not circumstantial,
It's part of a huge movement to ban all Exotic Animals in Canada and the USA.

Wondering what an Exotic Animal is, it's a non indigenous species.
Wondering if it will affect Aquarium keeping, yes it will, and it already has.

Several organizations have regrouped to do a wide spread Ban of all Exotic Animals ( and the keeping of ), and are in a joint venture both in Canada and the USA.

In the USA, legislature is being written as we speak, It affects the Import and Export from state to state, and from Country to Country of all Exotic Animals.

In Canada, the BC Gov. has finished The public consultation phase for the Wildlife Act Review, in that consultation, there is a proposed wide spread Ban of All Exotic Pets ( Non indigenous animals ), this affect all the Aquarium and Terrarium Animals.

I did try to get OVAS and the people on the Forum involved when I posted the following thread http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=24984.0 But only a few people have showed there support : (
It's sad.

Several Web sites have showed there support and joined the cause,  among a few are :
Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC)
Aquaria Canada
Atlantic Fish and Reptile Group
BCAQUARIA
Canadian Association of Aquarium Clubs (CAOAC)
GTA Aquaria
Kitchener-Waterloo Aquarium Society Community Forums

Where is OVAS ?
Where does OVAS stand in all of this ?

For up to date news on the issue at hand, please check out the following site, Canadian Aquarium and Terrarium Animal Legislation (CATAL) http://aqua-terra-vita.com/ATVIIR/CATAL/catal.php

Yep I'm an activist in this issue, and I do oppose this proposed wide spread Ban of Exotic Animals at all possible levels.

Don't sit back and wait,
Get involved people.

It's your Hobby that is at risk.

Sign the petition

[mseguin]

I fail to see the connection between Hawaii protecting its wildlife (part of the USA by the way) and this movement to ban all exotic wildlife. Disagree with the ban all you want, but that seems like a stretch to me.

[speckledmind]

I fail to see the connection

I will spell it out for you,
There using all possible venues to reach there objective.
It's that simple.

Saying there protecting there wildlife, makes the pill easier to swallow, and very politically correct.

[sniggir]

I personaly don't see the problem with the regulation of these fish and I think it is great... it will lead to people Farming the fish instead of taking from the wild... but that is just me.. I fail to see why as hobbiests we can't be more enviromentaly freindly.. towards our ocean.. but I guess I am just a big tree huggin hippy...

I would love to see most of the tangs jump up to the 200+$ price range than more people would be less likely to put them into a smaller tank. or buy them just because oh it's a prity fish.. and well it's only 40$ so if it doesn't make it....

[Mettle]

I agree that there is a movement afoot to ban exotics across the board and it has really gained momentum as of late. HOWEVER. We need to be weary of classifying conservation movements as inherently against the hobby - whether that be herps, aquaria, whatever. Protection of the environment and ecosystems is a very important thing, imo. While one may be against widespread bans, you also have to be careful not to characterize yourself as an environmental destructionist, because then you come off as seeming entitled to whatever the world has to offer at any cost... Our hobbies strike a fine balance between enjoyment, intrigue, knowledge and respct. And probably a few other traits I'm forgetting because it's late, haha...

[Funkmotor]

That a bag limit of 20 ornamental fish per person per day is now being imposed sort of implies that - up to now - there has been no bag limit at all.  Perhaps there was and it was much higher, I don't know.  Not that it matters.

According to this, there are about 200 people currently licensed to collect ornamental fish in Hawaii.  That's 4,000 fish on a good day, 1,000 of which can be Yellow Tangs.  That does not strike me as a small number.

I don't think that keeping fish in a tank should be more important than keeping fish in the ocean, and we can all learn a lesson from the Cod fishery in Newfoundland (and numerous other fisheries worldwide) that if we take too much there won't be any left to take.

If this does push up the price of fish, then we'll see a lot more emphasis on keeping them alive.  Overcrowding, poor shipping practices, etc. all contribute to cruelties that I would rather not see in this hobby.  People start losing $50 on a fish rather than $10 and maybe it will make a difference.

And I agree with sniggir, that if a Tang is $200 it will stop a lot of people from getting them before they are ready, and it will certainly encourage aquaculture of species that up to now have been deemed too difficult or too costly.

Let's not kid ourselves.  Setting up a reef tank is an expensive proposition.  Adding a few more hundred on top isn't really going to kill us.

A couple of snippets:

"Fishery reports note the total number of yellow tangs collected has increased by eighty‑one per cent; the value of the yellow tang catch has increased by one hundred sixty‑four per cent and the price paid to the fisherman for each yellow tang has increased by forty‑six per cent.  These results have proven positive for the reef ecosystem and beneficial to snorkeling, diving, and other non‑extractive activities that rely upon abundant marine life, while at the same time sustaining a viable commercial marine ornamental fishery."

And the original document is not vague on 'butterfly'.  It names them:

"(b)  The department shall develop appropriate criteria for classifying species as being of sufficient concern for a harvest prohibition, including that the fish are rare, at risk, or do not survive well during transport and captivity.  The harvest prohibition shall include bandit angelfish, flame angelfish, masked angelfish, Hawaiian longfin anthias, Tinker's butterflyfish, bluestripe butterfly fish, multiband butterflyfish, fourspot butterflyfish, ornate butterflyfish, oval butterflyfish, dragon moray, longnose hawkfish, flame wrasse, Hawaiian cleaner wrasse, psychedelic wrasse, shortnose wrasse, Hawaiian lionfish, Achilles tang, Moorish idol, elegant anthias, Hawaiian yellow anthias, pufferfish, Elizabeth's anthias, sunrise basslet, sunrise wrasse, orangemargin butterflyfish, and brownbarred butterflyfish."

I should probably stop replying to these trolls altogether...

[mseguin]

Ok, so this movement, which if I remember correctly from your previous thread is fronted by the BC SPCA, is powerful enough to get Hawaii to impose regulations on what of its more valuable exports, solely to make them happy?
Or perhaps, they are genuinely concerned about what might be happening to their marine ecosystem?   

[jeeper014]

The actual post have nothing to do with SPCA !!

This is from the Senate in Hawaii directly ... They want to protect they wildlife and im on the same way as Sniggir ...

The more they gonna cut on letting people catch these fish... Enthusiast will start breeding them ...

That's my POV ..

There is an Effective date on this as well .. so dosen't look like speculation or thinking or future plan ...

[kennyman]

Thanks for posting this Jeeper. I'm glad I got to see the revised bill. I was wondering what became of it. And don't give up Funkman. You help fence sitters like me from succumbing to doom sayers 


Yes it's going to hurt a bit loosing access to some of the fish we take for granted right now in the hobby. But think of all the threads posted over the years about seeing dead fish at retail stores. And how we have been told that we have no idea just how many fish died to get us those we do see. Some creatures are not well suited to domestication or captivity and should not be available in the hobby.

We need ornamental fishfarms located in these regions where they collect broodstock under special permit and then breed fish for export. But that can't happen when unregulated harvesting of cheep  wild stock for export is allowed.

[speckledmind]

I agree that issue can be pretty difficult to follow, as things get mixed between legislation, law and conservation.

Here are a few more things to consider.

The organizations opposed to the keeping of Exotic Animals, also help support the limitation of fish harvesting, breeding, selling and so on through Wild Life Conservation.

I am for Wild Life Conservation, but against a wide spread Ban of Exotic Animals.

In the USA,
- the biggest ( I mean huge ) an most powerful lobbying movement is the " People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals " ( PETA ), these guys have a very specific agenda of witch is that " no one should be keeping any kind of pets " ( It includes fish keeping ), and that's what they are pushing for.

This is a fanatical group to say the least.
"One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals."
Ingrid Newkirk, President — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal

- There is also The Humane Society of the United States, these guys want to Ban Exotic Animals altogether.
"The Humane Society of the United States strongly opposes keeping wild animals as pets. This principle applies to both native and nonnative species, whether caught in the wild or bred in captivity."
Humane Society of the United States Web site

In Canada,
- The biggest movement is the SPCA, these guys are pushing for a wide spread Ban of all Exotic Animals.

Enough said.

[kennyman]

I'm not sure why but there is a scond bill posted that is much more inclusive than the first one linked to. I think its an amended version.  (3225 SD2)

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/SB3225_SD2_.htm

[jeeper014]

  2 years ago i sent pictures of animals suffering from Pappanack zoo ... Timberwolf with flesh and open scar made from rusty fence and stuff like that and lion that was fed with only 1 pound of meat per day.... And PETA and WSPA and  other wildlife mouvement did nothing about it including the SPCA ... i had over 50 pictures sent to them and nothing happen

i had written message telling me they would do something but never happen to do something ...

Even regional paper didn't want to get involved in this ....

But they will give you a fine if you leave you dog on a hot day alone in you backyard ... or if he's barking to much ..

If there is a protection .. i don't know where it is exactly ...

[kennyman]

  2 years ago i sent pictures of animals suffering from Pappanack zoo ... Timberwolf with flesh and open scar made from rusty fence and stuff like that and lion that was fed with only 1 pound of meat per day.... And PETA and WSPA and  other wildlife mouvement did nothing about it including the SPCA ... i had over 50 pictures sent to them and nothing happen

i had written message telling me they would do something but never happen to do something ...

Even regional paper didn't want to get involved in this ....

But they will give you a fine if you leave you dog on a hot day alone in you backyard ... or if he's barking to much ..

If there is a protection .. i don't know where it is exactly ...

I think that is very much behind what the SPCA is up to. Dealing with wild or dangerous exotic animals is better left to game wardens and other Ministry cops. They don't want to respond to calls to wrestle an alligator out of a backyard pond, collect 50 envenomed tarantulas crawling around in a condo or try and take a pet cougar that ate someones baby into custody.