Recent content by rgbmatt

This is the worst part. Some of the Hawaiian species are very widespread, shallow water corals (some of the most abundant in the state, actually). It would be devastating to the dive/snorkel industry, and could lead to some serious restrictions for fishermen (no anchoring, fishing line...

People are already working on this, trust me. The industry needs to prepare itself. However, I doubt that the clipperton incident will be particularly significant in the big picture.

A bounty program would be great news for snake breeders...

Nope.

Yup, MPA news. What do you think their angle is? The important thing to realize here is that the MPA network was put in place not to "enhance the fishery", but to stop aquarium fishermen and dive tour companies from fighting with each other. In this respect, it was successful. Before 1999 it...

Unfortunately, this is something that is to be expected. Usually there is nothing wrong with the principle behind this sort of legislation. However, the fine print ends up wiping out all sorts of perfectly legitimate activities that are not harmful at all. This approach (clean list) seems to...

Bills like this usually don't pass out of committee, but it's no reason to be complacent. The government will pass all kinds of stupid crap if people don't make their voices heard and complain about it.

Might as well let the "sources" here speak for themselves. Here is what Bob Fenner has to say, when questioned about his material being misused: And here is what says about local aquarium fishermen and the survival rate of our fish: This is what Dr. Leon Hallacher (coauthor of the...

As somebody on the supply side of the fence, it's worth noting that some of the local dealers are fairly small operations. Because they can't handle a lot of clients at a time, they don't make a big effort of publicizing themselves. In this case, being a "secret supplier" is purely practical...

FYI, this is from the Waikiki Aquarium's testimony in opposition to HB191: There are four species of butterfly fish in Hawaii that really do need coral to survive and cannot be fed on anything else. Out of these, a grand total of eleven were caught in 2007. The real problem with the bill is...

Thank you! Hmm... It looks like the 2002 citation is from Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine (not a peer-reviewed journal), while the Env. Bio. of Fishes paper from the same year doesn't give a population estimate at all. I remember reading that paper and their sample size didn't look good...

Peter, Do you have a citation for the 2 million fish population estimate? I've read some papers by Dr. Vagelli and others about rates of harvest and mortality, but I've never seen a standing stock estimate anywhere in the literature. The studies I've seen have not used nearly enough survey...

The legislation you're talking about was a special-interest bill introduced this year by a local snorkel tour company. Although it was presented in the guise of fisheries management, it was really just a sneaky attempt to kill the aquarium industry in Hawaii for personal reasons. The bill...

Being comfortable in the water is a lot more important than using fancy equipment. I don't use a BCD either - they're too bulky and slow for chasing fish, and can be an entanglement hazard if you're working with nets. As for dive computers, you'd be surprised at how much of a safety margin...

No, wasn't saying that at all. Just that it's used in a number of places, not passing judgment one way or the other.