610 Fish Thrown out at Honokohau

[AlohaDiver]

Aloha, I am SO happy to find this discussion and resources, as a Kona diver who's VERY concerned about the disappearing fish population.

And what can those of us who are concerned do? I have the time to help with this issue if there's a way to help.

Mahalo everyone.

 

[friscuba]

It's becoming increasingly difficult to find a flame angelfish, unless I head to Petco's aquarium section.

I won't comment on your whole post, but the thing about flame angels is so far from my experience. We see them all the time nowadays. We had a diver with 10 total dives over 2-3 years spot a few of them yesterday on one dive. The most I've seen on one dive is 8, and that's at a collectible site that I see collectors hang out at. I've got spots that I can practically guarantee showing flame angels because I know where 4-6 have territories at each of those locations, usually see most or all of them on every dive.

Flame angels weren't that common for a long time, saw very few the first 5-6 years I was here, then started seeing them more frequently in '06, more in '07 and '08 and very frequently the last year. In November I had some customers do 12 dives with me, they made the comment at the end that they saw flame angels on 8-9 of them. I'd be hard pressed to name two sites I've been to in the last half year or so that I haven't seen a flame angel or two at some point in time. It seems we don't go 2-3 charters without seeing them now. I'd give you specific directions to several (I've got several spots about the size of a hula hoop that are home to flame angels, basically guaranteed) if I knew for certain they were well within FRA boundaries (not finding handy accurate maps online). For now, I'm pretty sure the collectors steer clear of the old airport marine preserve. Go there and do a dive at 30-40 feet depth along the shoulder in most any direction and if you don't run into a flame angel or four, something's weird.

Flame angels are a fish I'm thinking is rebounding very well. I'd like to see more snowflake eels, haven't seen any in 6 years personally, but my crew have seen a couple in the last few months.

I do hate seeing dive boat crew getting into the collection biz. You can't say for certain that they won't poach known fish from popular dive sites, but it gets awfully suspicious when fish disappear right after they start collecting. I remember back in 2000 or so when the last two lionfish at lionfish arch, just outside of high rock, disappeared... I knew guys who pointed fingers at a DM that started collecting about 2 weeks earlier.

 

[AlohaDiver]

Aloha Steve,

I wish we could ban aquarium collecting all together here, and that the DLNR would enforce the no-collecting rule.

I just heard that the boat captain I mentioned in my last post has quit the dive shop last week and now she's aquarium collecting full-time. Scary and sad.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

It's becoming increasingly difficult to find a flame angelfish, unless I head to Petco's aquarium section.

Flame angels are a fish I'm thinking is rebounding very well.

Yes I totally agree that there are more flames than a few years ago, I just want to see even more.

First I have to state that I'm a third generation Sierra Club member, I hated the Superferry's exemption around the EIS and I like the fact that Sea Shepherd fights for whales and soon for blue fin tuna!

I am a die hard conservationist; tree hugger, reef hugger, monk seal hugger (well actually he hugged me). I really hate to see conservationist statements that are more propaganda than fact! When the lack of facts is exposed it casts a lack of fact gloom on all conservationist statements; even the one's that are factual.

Why can't we argue with the facts rather than making stuff up? Presented correctly the facts are more than enough to make a point. Making stuff up means you have only made a point for the other side!

 

[friscuba]

I just heard that the boat captain I mentioned in my last post has quit the dive shop last week and now she's aquarium collecting full-time. Scary and sad.

Bummer. I wish they'd at the very least stop issuing new permits 'til they prove without doubt it's a sustainable harvest industry.

The semi-good news is there are companies on this island and elsewhere working on breeding aquarium fish. They've already done flame angels, but the price is too high. They're working on yellow tangs from what I understand, and are having a 85/90% hatch rate, however have yet been unable to get the fry past the larval stage. If they can get that worked out to where captive bred yellow tangs were comparable in price to wild caught, the collection industry in the islands would just about evaporate overnight.

 

[rgbmatt]

Yes I totally agree that there are more flames than a few years ago, I just want to see even more. I'd love to see a proliferation of the tangs like there once was, as well as the blue stripes, bandits, tinkers, etc.

I wish we could ban aquarium collecting all together here, and that the DLNR would enforce the no-collecting rule.

I just heard that the boat captain I mentioned in my last post has quit the dive shop last week and now she's aquarium collecting full-time. Scary and sad.

Funny to see flame angels come up. DAR just released another report on the Kona aquarium fishery, and one point they brought up was that flame angel sightings have increased dramatically since 2006.

Fortunately (for the dive companies), flame angels aren't a fish that we usually try to catch. They're not worth very much, so usually the collectors don't bother with them - it's easier to catch a couple of yellow tangs than one flame angel. So, even in open areas you should be able to find them if you look.

Although there have been several efforts to ban aquarium fishing over the years, none of them were successful. The state isn't going to just put hundreds of local people out of work without trying to find a compromise - especially when all evidence says that it can be done sustainably. However, if you do want to make a difference in a positive way, you should look into working with the West Hawaii Fisheries Council. The state is actively working to manage the fishery to ensure the resource remains viable and that user conflicts are avoided, and that's the best place to air your concerns (which, I might add, are quite valid). And if you see people catching fish in the FRAs, bust 'em.

The boat captain thing is a pet peeve on our side, too. Over here, we put a lot of effort into making sure we get along with the dive shops - we leave their areas alone and they don't bother us. There's enough ocean out there for every one to share without stepping on each others' toes, and so far we've been able to stay on friendly terms with the dive industry. I really wish the Kona guys would be able to do the same. Having dive shop employees biting the hand that feeds them only causes trouble and it ends up hurting us a lot. I too would like to see the permits become more restricted so we can avoid this kind of thing.

 

[cuddlefish]

I'm also upset because there's now a boat captain at Kona's biggest dive shop who is aquarium collecting professionally on the side. So that means she can use the info she gets from divers who come up on the boat and say, for example, "Wow I just saw two tinkers butterfly fish," and then she can go back to that dive site later and grab the tinker fish and sell them for a high profit.

That person is a new collector and resigned from that dive shop.

 

[Jack'sDivingLocker]

Jack's Diving Locker recently found out that one of its Captains had started collecting tropical fish as a side job. That Captain has since chosen to resign her position at JDL due to conflict of interest that went directly against JDL's mission statement.

 

[Uwrasse]

Although there have been several efforts to ban aquarium fishing over the years, none of them were successful. The state isn't going to just put hundreds of local people out of work without trying to find a compromise - especially when all evidence says that it can be done sustainably.

rgbmatt makes a tricky statement here--that none of the efforts to ban aquarium fishing were successful. Actually, they were. Far more people now know what's going on, and that "sustainable" is far from abundant. Beyond that, those efforts to ban aquarium collecting will continue, long after Lingle's Chief Policy Advisor Linda Smith--an aquarium wholesaler who stonewalled those efforts--is gone.
rgbmatt claims a right to "livelihood," as if the reef-based tourism industry generates no livelihoods. But the big question anybody participating in this thread should answer is this: should aquarium collecting have bag limits? Should endemic and rare species be protected? Or should these guys be allowed to continue taking it all?

 

[Peter_C]

Go have fun with this thread!
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/mi...ing-trip-ft-lauderdale-june-24-27-2010-a.html