Hawai‘i Supreme Court Orders Halt of Commercial Aquarium Fishery

A school of juvenile parrotfishes, protected within the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area, swims over the reef in spring of 2014, an optimistic sign signaling early stages of this reef’s recovery. Credit: Liz Foote

Today, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court unanimously sided with citizens and conservation groups who have been fighting to protect the State’s coral reefs from the aquarium industry’s collection and sale of reef fish and other wildlife.

In 2012, plaintiffs sued the State Department of Land and Natural Resources for failing to comply with Hawai‘i’s Environmental Policy Act and undertake environmental review before issuing dozens of aquarium collection permits annually. In their decision, the Supreme Court agreed with plaintiffs, reversed the decisions of the Circuit Court and Intermediate Court of Appeals denying plaintiffs’ claims, and ordered the Circuit Court to grant an injunction prohibiting commercial aquarium collection pending compliance with the law. Earthjustice, representing the plaintiffs, says the aquarium industry strips vast numbers (possibly in the millions) of fish and other marine animals from Hawai‘i’s reefs each year and sells them outside the state. The organization adds that most of the fish captured are herbivorous reef-dwellers that coral reef ecosystems depend upon because they control algae growth. […]

Full article: Hawai‘i Supreme Court Orders Halt of Commercial Aquarium Fishery