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Honolulu, HI — Citizens and conservation groups took legal action today to require the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources to protect Hawaiʻi’s reefs and coastal areas from unlimited collection of fish and other wildlife for the aquarium trade. Specifically, the groups are asking DLNR to conduct environmental reviews—including an examination of cumulative damage to the state’s reefs—before granting permits that allow unlimited aquarium collection of marine wildlife in coastal waters.
Earthjustice filed the complaint under the Hawaiʻi Environmental Policy Act in the First Circuit Court on behalf of Rene Umberger, Mike Nakachi, Kaimi Kaupiko, Willie Kaupiko, Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi, The Humane Society of the United States, and the Center for Biological Diversity.
“DLNR owes it to the people of Hawaiʻi to take a hard look at the effects of aquarium collection on our coral reefs before it allows these ecologically-valuable animals to be shipped to the mainland for private profit,” said Earthjustice attorney Caroline Ishida.