Yesterday, Hawaiʻi Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey P. Crabtree lifted an injunction in a case filed by opponents of commercial aquarium fishing, prohibiting the issuance or renewal of aquarium fish permits to commercial collectors pursuant to Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS) § 188-31 in the West Hawai‘i Regional Fishery Management Area (WHRFMA).  An injunction concerning the issuance or renewal of aquarium fish permits in the rest of the State of Hawaiʻi remains in effect.

During the hearing, lead counsel for the State, Deputy Attorney General Melissa Goldman, reminded the parties and the public that aquarium fishing in West Hawai‘i is not allowed because the injunction regarding the issuance or renewal of aquarium fish permits to commercial collectors pursuant to Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes § 188-31 is lifted as to West Hawaiʻi.

No aquarium fishing permits have yet been considered or issued for WHRFMA by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), and the lifting of the injunction in the WHRFMA does not permit the immediate resumption of commercial aquarium fishing either in the WHRFMA or anywhere else in Hawaiʻi.

In a statement Deputy Attorney General Goldman stated: “Today’s decision returns the management of the State’s aquatic resources in the West Hawai‘i Regional Fishery Management Area back to the DLNR, now that the environmental review process for West Hawai‘i is complete. Today’s decision does not itself authorize any aquarium fishing.  That question may now be taken up by the DLNR, which is the agency charged with managing the State’s aquatic resources.”

Individuals who engage in commercial aquarium collection without the required permit in the West Hawai‘i management area or elsewhere in the State will be cited.

 

AP Photo