AQUARIUM BILL SUMMARY INFORMATION (PDF)

The Legislature recognizes that the over harvesting of ornamental fish and aquatic life from the reefs of the main Hawaiian islands is a matter of statewide concern.

AQUARIUM BILL SUMMARY INFORMATION

Reef Fish Value in a Tourism Economy

Reef-related tourism from the snorkel, dive and sport fishing industries generates $1 billion annually for Hawaii’s economy.
Hawaii’s snorkel and dive tour boats alone employ more than 2000 people. 
The aquarium industry generates only $1 - $3 million (according to aquarium catch reports) employing 300 – 500 people total.
The Problem with Catch Reports
DAR and other State stats come from collector catch reports, but underreporting is rampant.   “In 1993, reported sales of Hawaiian aquarium fish were $820,000 while the trade group Hawai’i Tropical Fish Association publicly estimated it’s total sales at around $4.9 million for the same year.”   In August 2007 a Honolulu aquarium exporter put the industry gross at $20 million per year:  7 - 10 times more than reported.
Grossly skewed numbers now shape Hawaii’s reef management, while millions of dollars in tax revenue are lost. 
DAR catch reports:  1 – 2 million fish annually.
DAR estimates on actual catch:   2 – 5 times higher or 2 – 10 million fish annually.
The Herbivore/Algae Crisis
Herbivores keep coral alive.  Our reefs are smothering in algae.  81% of the ornamental fish collected are algae eaters.

“Identification of key algal grazing fish species and rebuilding of their standing stocks is  [thus] rapidly becoming a DAR priority”…
                        – DAR State Administrator Dr. Dan Polhemus                                                                                                           
           
One species = millions of exported herbivores:
            Of all the ornamental fish collected, 54% are represented by one species, the yellow tang, a vital algae eater.

“….removal of large numbers of herbivores such as the yellow tang
can cause reef areas to be overrun and smothered with algae.”
Reef Fish Decline
“Over the last 50 years, stocks of most coral reef fishes in the main Hawaiian Islands have exhibited catch declines of 50 – 90%, based on commercial catch data.” – Dan Polhemus

Juvenile fish… are the most popularly targeted for collection.

 "Removal of significant numbers of particular species of sub reproductive reef fish for the aquarium trade can interrupt food chains, cause reproductive failure and alter habitat."

"Large numbers of very young fish… are rare in West Hawaii, but are critical to replenishing populations drawn down by collecting for sale to the aquarium fish market. … given the economic and biological importance, [this] needs further study."

Research Challenges
“One major challenge in this debate has been gathering sound data on an ecosystem as complex as the reef and an industry as broad-ranging as aquarium collecting.  To adequately document the impact of all of these [100] species and their interactions with other members of the reef community,  [Bill] Walsh says, would ‘take generations’”.

“…very little is known about the reproductive life history and size at first reproduction for most of Hawaii’s aquarium fishes.” 

Mortality – Death En Route to Retail
High mortality is an aquarium industry secret.  Retail survival guarantees range from  5 – 30 days and many fish are too fragile to be guaranteed to arrive alive.   A yellow tang can live 45 years on a reef  – or sell for $50 - $60 on the internet.
Yellow tang lifespan estimates range from 20 - 45 years, “ but like most long lived fish, may not begin to reproduce until they are several years old.”
Fish like the Hawaiian cleaner wrasse and coral eating butterflyfish quickly starve to death because their natural food source is not available in confinement.
 “For the aquarium hobbyist, appropriate care for a wild caught fish is usually impossible and they suffer and die well before their time”.