610 Fish Thrown out at Honokohau

[S0ckm0nk3y]

As another Kohala Coast diver put it.. kudos for West Hawaii Today putting this on the front cover:

West Hawaii Today - from archives > Local > Tropical Fish dump prompts outrage

How do fish collectors even nab so many fish at once? A big vacuum?

Hopefully I don't spur another fish collecting flame war... I was just bummed out enough to share.

-Eric

 

[Shaka Doug]

Wow! That's obscene. Let's say the fish were in some kind of holding tank and everything was in order (permits, licenses, proper handling procedures, etc.) but they were suddenly killed by a mechanical problem with a pump or filter or some disease struck. That would be very unfortunate to say the least. But to then dump them in a dumpster?! What braniac thought this would be a good idea??? They should have been buried or possibly been put out in the sea to feed other fish. Wouldn't dead fish make a good fertilizer? Or couldn't they be used as bait? Dumping them in the dumpster really angers me. This certainly isn't going to help the marine aquarium fish trade industry. What a senseless waste of beautiful fish....

Here's a couple of photos from the West Hawaii Today newspaper article:

What's happening? Are people around here really becoming more and more stupid every day? Look what happened here on Maui with our artificial reef. Look at what happened on Oahu with Honey Girl the sea turtle. Look at what happened on Kauai with the monk seals. I don't get it. Can someone explain this madness to me? I love the ocean and the ocean loves me. It is upsetting to see this kind of behavior occurring over and over again.

Thanks for starting this thread Eric.

 

[caymaniac]

Gee, I wonder why the reefs don't seem all that fishy in Hawaii....
If this kind of collecting continues it could help decimate current populations, there should be a yearly limit on what the take is per license.

 

[Uwrasse]

600+ fish thrown into a dumpster at Honokohou Harbor is the tip of the iceberg. The aquarium trade in Hawaii has no limit on its catch, no limit to the # of catchers and no protection on rare or endemic species. It's a travesty of rampant carnage on a daily basis. The current Governor's Chief Policy Advisor was a wholesale distributor to the trade. The reported catch annual is $1-2 million, though actual catch is $20 million-- & that money jumps exponentially at the first middleman in California.
Here's the rub: we know the culprit in Kona. So what? He broke no laws. It's a boomtown, shoot'em up anarchy on Hawaii reefs. The legislature would pass statutory regulations quickly, if not for leadership tied to commercial fishing.
What can you do? Spread the word, & tell whomever needs to know what our 41st President of the United States of America told Uncle Mikael:
"Mr. Gorbachev! Tear DOWN this aquarium!"
I only regret that I see no modocon here to reflect the continuing pounding sensation in my anal sphincter.

 

[The Chairman]

Greed and avarice abound in the USA.

 

[kanonfodr]

That's really horrible. I sympathize with Shaka Doug, if it was an unforeseen mechanical failure that caused the death of these poor little guys, there was still a better way to dispose of them than just chucking them into the dumpster.

Peace,
Greg

 

[friscuba]

It'll be curious to see if whoever did this gets turned in by others in the industry.

I also wonder if this might be a year's worth of "shrinkage", losses from the holding tanks of a collector, frozen and kept in bags for a photo at year's end in case they get audited (I used to be in the pet biz a couple decades back, heard of such things) and then tossed in wherever is convenient at the time. People use the dumpsters at the harbor for personal use all of the time, they're supposed to be used for garbage produced on the boats at the time of using the ramps. If this was off of one collecting trip and their holding system went bad, shame on the collector for collecting all the little tangs at the top of the picture, that's probably a couple hundred at least that have little chance of making it in an aquarium.

I'm sure there will be an uproar locally over this, maybe some good will come out of it.

 

[friscuba]

Here's the rub: we know the culprit in Kona. So what? He broke no laws. It's a boomtown, shoot'em up anarchy on Hawaii reefs.

Question, do you really know who did it? Call the local paper, I'm sure they'd love to follow up.

 

[octodiver]

Don't be fooled by the aquarium trades so-called "outrage": According to official State documents, in 2006 collectors reported that 16,214 died before being sold and in 2007 it was 20,340. There are an average of 10,000 fish per 2.5 acres in Hawaii. The largest U.S. mainland wholesaler reported that the DOA rates of many Hawaii collector's fishes at his facility are above the industry norm of 5%, but the ones he uses have an average DOA rate of up to 3%, so you're looking at an additional 20,000+ dead at LAX upon arrival.

So heads up everyone - this is not an anomaly - it's SOP and it's just 1% of the waste that happens before they reach the retail outlets. Don't forget: according to an industry leader, 99% of all fish taken from the reefs die within a year.

No aquarium hobbyist needs a reef fish more than our reefs and our people do. Help end aquarium collecting in Hawaii now! Go to: FortheFishes.org "

 

[rgbmatt]

Hopefully I don't spur another fish collecting flame war...

As I can see from a couple posts already it's pretty difficult. Unfortunately (I am a fish collector) a lot of the people who don't like us have a hard time holding back.

This is really sad from our perspective too. Most of us in the business are in it because we really do like fish, and seeing this kind of waste is terrible. This isn't how we operate at all, but it only takes one stupid person to give us a bad name. I fully agree with Shaka Doug - who the heck kills 600 fish and throws them in a dumpster?

There's no way I could earn a living if I killed fish like that. If our fish die, we don't get paid. What this probably means is that the culprit will go out of business soon and the rest of us will be left cleaning up after their mess.