Can someone explain the current state of the Hawaiian fish ban?

[Hawaii hobbyist]

Hawaii has loads of great /productive reefs. Pollution is the number one threat to reefs in Hawaii and coincidentally, wherever you find heavy development such as hotels and golf courses or injection wells for sewage, the fringing reefs in close proximity are struggling. This fact is often overlooked instead blaming the problem on some other nebulous factors. Next time you come out hit me up and I’ll point you in the right direction or just come to big island and you’ll see so many fish you’ll be stunned

 

[Solo McReefer]

I’m trying to speak in layman terms. I define good reefs by a number of factors such as coral coverage, coral heath, biodiversity and productivity/biomass

Having the locals not pooping and peeing into the reef water, is the first step to stopping reef destruction

Whenever you actually dive deep into coral reef destruction, that is invariably what is causing it

 

[Hawaii hobbyist]

there also other phenomena where in sandy areas there’s changes/switching of longterm current patterns as well as changes in weather patterns such as El Niño and La Niña that create additional storms and shifting of the benthic sand habitats. The sand will stay in one area for ten years, reef will start developing on rock, then the shift occurs and the reef will be smothered. Other areas will get les and and start growing. It’s all natural and normal

 

[Seansea]

Just snorkled. But i find it interesting that i saw a ton of the brown tangs that nobody wants i'd imagine if you go out to the protected area near midway atoll and all that might find tons but don't think they will ever allow taking from there. But if you definatly would know better than me since you live there and I know that any place near the most populated areas won't be great. But I think I saw 7 yellow tangs and 15 sea turtles. Thought that was a little weird.

 

[Seansea]

Think the big island is our next trip. Would love to know where the sweet spots are. But to be honest I was shocked at how nice wamai bay was for snorkeling. Have only been when waves were huge. It was as calm as glass and the water was perfectly clear. Saw alot of really cool stuff there.

Went to crescent reef in kaneho and saw the biggest coral I have ever seen. It was a porites that was bigger than my house with yard included. Was really sweet and saw alot of eels and some great stuff there too but the lack of yellow tangs was still disturbing.

 

[Hawaii hobbyist]

Just snorkled. But i find it interesting that i saw a ton of the brown tangs that nobody wants i'd imagine if you go out to the protected area near midway atoll and all that might find tons but don't think they will ever allow taking from there. But if you definatly would know better than me since you live there and I know that any place near the most populated areas won't be great. But I think I saw 7 yellow tangs and 15 sea turtles. Thought that was a little weird.

Different fish assemblages occur in different zones of the inshore reef complexes. In O’ahu you’re not gonna see much yellow tangs unless you’re diving the outside or where there’s good inside reef action such as Hanauma bay or Kaneohe bay. On big island, you can see yellow tangs everywhere just driving down the road. We have millions rolling in the waves. Interesting fact, the big island has more yellow tangs than all the other islands combined and has higher density scores than any of the NW Hawaiian islands including midway which is off limits to fishing

 

[Hawaii hobbyist]

Think the big island is our next trip. Would love to know where the sweet spots are. But to be honest I was shocked at how nice wamai bay was for snorkeling. Have only been when waves were huge. It was as calm as glass and the water was perfectly clear. Saw alot of really cool stuff there.

Went to crescent reef in kaneho and saw the biggest coral I have ever seen. It was a porites that was bigger than my house with yard included. Was really sweet and saw alot of eels and some great stuff there too but the lack of yellow tangs was still disturbing.

It was disturbing? Maybe temper your expectations. The reality is not every square inch of our coastline is chocked full of yellow tangs with the exception of Hawaii island. The reefs here are not gonna be how your imagination thinks they should look. Lol

 

[Seansea]

It was disturbing? Maybe temper your expectations. The reality is not every square inch of our coastline is chocked full of yellow tangs with the exception of Hawaii island. The reefs here are not gonna be how your imagination thinks they should look. Lol

Ya i feel ya. But should have been more. At least some decent schools moving around. They were there when i woukd go in te 90s. Not now

 

[Northern Flicker]

Ya i feel ya. But should have been more. At least some decent schools moving around. They were there when i woukd go in te 90s. Not now

I’m glad not all of us are sticking our heads in the sand. Still sounds like a great trip though .

 

[Reefing102]

Just saw this posted by one of my LFS’s:

https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/F-1-1.pdf

 

[Northern Flicker]

Just saw this posted by one of my LFS’s:

https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/F-1-1.pdf

It’s telling that the most vocal are the fish stores and the collectors like Kona.

I don’t think we should have people who profit from this also being the voice of the hobby. This is ammunition for those who want to shut the hobby down.

 

[Hawaii hobbyist]

..

 

[Solo McReefer]

The group that needs to advocate for reefers ners to have the financial backing of those who make a profit from it

But lead by respected leaders in the reef hobby. I don't think that possible now. I get back in after a hiatus, people are dead who shouldn't be, conventions that should be aren't, and advocate organizations have folded up their tents

And yes that would mean everything you buy in the hobby costs a little bit more. So it won't happen. It costs money to hire lawyers and lobbyists.

Whatever or whoever made this flyer, is definitely not the answer. Sorry to the someone, if someone here did this. You need a graphic artist, photographer, and a writer at least; and a competent lawyer needs to be in on this.

This needs to convince me to part with actual money to support it, if this were a petition, it doesn't convince me to give a signature

 

[stewy14]

I think we should leave those near endangered fish be and keep just captive breeding the fish we already have
but thats just my opinion

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I dont know how prevalent they are in the Hawaiian Islands...no idea since Ive never been but frankly the "he said, she said" doesnt matter either way to me. From the data Ive seen, the fishing hasnt posed such a threat but most of all they certainly arent endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

 

[litsoh]

But I think I saw 7 yellow tangs and 15 sea turtles. Thought that was a little weird.

You're probably just not looking in the right areas. There are some spots on island where you can always see yellows practically next to the sidewalk.

 

[Reefing102]

I think we should leave those near endangered fish be and keep just captive breeding the fish we already have
but thats just my opinion

Not sure what your definition of near endangered is…my understanding of the scientific study accepted by the Hawaiian Courts is that none of the proposed 7 species for collection are at risk with the collection limits designed to mitigate that risk even more.

Not trying to be argumentative, just genuinely curious how you came to the near endangered definition.

 

[stewy14]

Not sure what your definition of near endangered is…my understanding of the scientific study accepted by the Hawaiian Courts is that none of the proposed 7 species for collection are at risk with the collection limits designed to mitigate that risk even more.

Not trying to be argumentative, just genuinely curious how you came to the near endangered definition.

idk lol, thought I saw it somewhere, but turned out I was wrong, thanks for pointing that out!

 

[reefer333_]

Think the big island is our next trip. Would love to know where the sweet spots are. But to be honest I was shocked at how nice wamai bay was for snorkeling. Have only been when waves were huge. It was as calm as glass and the water was perfectly clear. Saw alot of really cool stuff there.

Went to crescent reef in kaneho and saw the biggest coral I have ever seen. It was a porites that was bigger than my house with yard included. Was really sweet and saw alot of eels and some great stuff there too but the lack of yellow tangs was still disturbing.

My family went to the big island in Hawaii for vacation this past July. Every beach we snorkeled at, all we see are Yellow Tangs, to the point that my 7 years old asked me whether Hawaii has Yellow Tangs problem like Florida is having with lion fish where they are overtaking the area.

 

[Kylesreeftank]

The problem with the Legislation is invariably a local population with real problems, and a tourism industry with incredibly deep pockets.

Neither one wants to address the real problems affecting Hawaiians. Like bad traffic, an extreme amount of cesspools and beach pollution with human excrement, low water table, etc.

Whole I think it is sad that we have gotten caught up in this, with the local powers that be dragging their feet, the reality is we should be happy to get anything out of Hawaii given historically the island has been abused over and over whether it was the pineapple industry, military base installations, observatories, beachfront properties and seasonal traffic so bad that you might as well take a bike.....

Rambling aside, that's sort of the state of things. When it does reopen, it will be limited to a handful of collectors (read: lobbyists to sell fish at heavily inflated prices where a heavy tax goes to the pocket of some shell industry that takes more money off the island instead of of keeping it local to begin with.)

Blaming the industry pushes the focal point of blame to someone else (us) rather than the logical choice (those bringing more people to the island in the first place).

Just politics, and politics as usual is if you aren't actively dumping money into a politician, you won't get your way any time soon and they could blame global warming on Costco hotdogs and it would go to legislation with enough money behind it.