Aquarium – Fish Focussed

As activists rejoice the court’s decision to uphold bans on the commercial collection of Hawaiian aquarium fish on January 15th 2021^[10,11], are their aquatic woes truly over? It’s not time to put down the gloves just yet…

Controversial or not, the economic impacts of the Hawaiian aquarium fishery are nothing to ignore. This fishery culminates in over 2.3 million dollars of ex-vessel gross annual revenue^[1]. That makes this fishery one of the most valuable in-shore fisheries in Hawaii and that also doesn’t include the revenue generated from other dealers and retail sales^[1].

Screen Shot 2021-02-01 at 12.48.42 PM.png — Here we can see how the value of aquarium collection in Hawaii. Remember that this revenue does not include the jobs created outside of the fisher themselves! Figure from: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/files/2015/01/ar_hrs188_2015.pdfLinks to an external site.

Increasing demand for Hawaii’s aquarium fish has amplified ongoing concerns over the trend towards already prevalent decreases in reef fish abundance and diversity. Hawaiian congress introduced Bill 931 to ban all forms of commercial aquarium fishing by any means effective March 1st 2024^[2]. However, the courts have recently made all aquarium collection illegal until an environmental survey can be completed^[10,11]. Hawaiian senators are hopeful that the ban on aquarium fishing is sufficient to mitigate decades of reef-fish harvesting^[2].

However, without further restrictions on other reef pressures would it be possible for a ban on aquarium collection alone to rebound diminished reef stocks?

Is it enough?

In experimental trials involving the creation of fish replenishment areas, regions where aquarium collecting is disallowed, ongoing wide-scale population degradation still continued^[3]. Only regions where all forms of fishing are prohibited, MPA’s, did researchers detect a significant increase in reef-fish population recovery^[^3].

Although this is a small subset of Hawaii, what is important to note is the relative difference in abundance between FRA’s and MPA’s. Figure from: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/files/2015/01/ar_hrs188_2015.pdfLinks to an external site.

This suggests that only banning aquarium collection may not be enough to rebound populations and that the aquarium fishery cannot solely be to blame for the observed reductions in Hawaiian reef fish abundance.

A hidden issue…

Furthermore, multiple government studies have concluded that the largest outflow of reef fish biomass is through non-commercial, recreational, fisheries^[4]. It is surprising that there are few regulations on recreational marine fishing and there it is no requirement to obtain a permit for recreational saltwater fishing^[5,6]. In-shore non-commercial fishers, whether it be for consumption or even aquarium use, take approximately 5 times more fish biomass than their commercial counterparts^[7]. Perhaps even more interestingly, although the aquarium fishery removes less biomass, it generates more annual sales than the highest value in-shore consumption commercial fishery^[7].

The formation of marine reservation areas, where all forms of fishing are banned, more consistently lead to rebounds in reef-fish diversity and abundance^[3]. Currently around Hawaii there is approximately only 1400 acres worth of protected marine reservation areas^[8]. It may be beneficial to increase the size and or amount of marine reservation areas.

What is next?

Therefore, further conservation efforts should address and target consumption fisheries by limiting their biomass yield. However, arguably even more importantly, restrictions should be placed on recreational fishers and licensing should be introduced to better monitor recreational fishing yields. Licensing fees may also be used to help fund conservation efforts, similar to what British Columbia does with “salmon stamps”^[9]. The establishment of more marine reservation areas should be prioritized over fish replenishment areas, as only these regions are proven to have positive effects on virtually all species^[3].

Is it enough?

A hidden issue…

What is next?

Read more and explore my references!