The Honolulu City Council passed two resolutions urging the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to ban aquarium fishing and the Legislature to outlaw the trade statewide, joining Maui, Kauai and Hawaii counties. The vote came with one objection from Council member Andria Tupola and two members voting yes with reservations.
Aquarium fishing has been effectively halted statewide since December 2020 after courts suspended commercial marine licenses used for the trade, and the state's First Circuit Court ruled in April that DLNR has authority to ban it outright. The Legislature's own attempt at a ban stalled in conference committee that same month.
Supporters, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners, argue the trade conflicts with the state's public trust duties and threatens herbivore fish essential to reef health. Opponents, including fishermen who say they've invested heavily in environmental review to comply with the law, argue the ban is based on misinformation and threatens their livelihoods; the Board of Land and Natural Resources is expected to weigh in at an August 28 meeting.
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