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From Miwa:

I tend not to get too worked up about what people say in the papers, but this I just had to share… Below is a copy of Jay Fidell’s column in the Honolulu Advertiser (published Sunday).

In it, he articulates his opposition to the newly formed Pono Aquaculture Alliance.*

My personal favorite quote from Mr. Fidell:  ”For their own agenda, the activists are ignoring state policy and creating an imbalance that is not fair or pono. The sooner our officials realize this, the sooner the imbalance can be corrected and we can catch up. Short of that, we’re headed for backwater, where we really will need those ancient fishponds.”

Backwater = Fishponds? It’s news to us.

The “state policy” I *think* he is referring to, is the Ocean Resources Management Plan–which sets forth a goal of ten new aquaculture operations in Hawai’i…  after a public planning process to determine ocean areas where aquaculture is appropriate. No such planning process has ever occurred.

Some other things to consider:
- The Hawaii Ocean Technology (HOTI) new ahi feedlot proposed for Hawai’i Island will import 100% of its fish feed and export 90% of its fish to Japan and the U.S. continent. This is contributing to food security… how?
- The report Jay attacks in his piece is accompanied by 180 citations and footnotes, and is the result of over a year of investigative research work.
- Feeding wild fish to farmed fish (since high-value fish like tuna are carnivorous) is actually contributing to the decline of fish stocks like herring, mackerel, and sardine around the world. (It takes about 3 lbs of wild fish to produce 1lb of farmed seafood). How you do aquaculture, and at what scale, matters. A lot.

If you’re moved to write in response to Jay, you can submit your letter to the editor here: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/current/op/submitletter

NOAA is holding its Honolulu “listening session” tomorrow–one of six such meetings on its proposed policy on open ocean aquaculture. Proposals to open waters  currently under U.S. federal jurisdiction (outside 3 miles) to aquaculture operations in the next few years are currently on the table. (2:30 – 4:30PM, Ala Moana Hotel) And likely why Jay is ranting about us this week!

*The Pono Aquaculture Alliance (PAʻA) is a group of cultural practioners, fishers, scientists, environmental advocates, and “aquaculturists” advocating basic principles of “pono aquaculture”–which include no use of hormones or pharma-chemicals, no GMO feed, and ensuring public access to ocean areas–and promoting aquaculture (like fish ponds, aquaponic systems and other forms of aquaculture) that promote ecosystem health, feed communities, and promote food sovereignty/security. Uncle Isaac Harp is leading this effort for KAHEA, and we deeply appreciate his work as well as the work of so many other dedicated individuals and organizations on this issue.

From Jay Fidell:

Aquaculture’s the new target of Isle activists

Some say aquaculture is Hawai’i's next great sector, growing fish to provide us with food security, jobs and tax revenues for the state. The market is assured because the oceans can’t meet world demand. Others say aquaculture will be the next whipping boy for the activists who are determined to bring it down.

Why would activists target such a promising new industry, especially where Hawai’i has lost self-sufficiency and imports 90 percent of its seafood? Maybe it’s because the activists, like everyone else, are suffering in the recession, and desperate times call for desperate causes.

Activism is an industry dedicated not to building things, but stopping them. As others, activists have to pay for office space, staff, lawyers and PR. To pay their bills, they have to identify with causes. Old causes are old hat — they need fresh controversies to raise fresh money. No cause, no protest, no money.

TARGET OF CONVENIENCE

Aquaculture seems like a good target. Startups have to run the gauntlet and bear lengthy delays in dealing with government. Activists know that this burns capital and decimates cash. They know how hard it is for startups to raise capital in Hawai’i. In desperate times, aquaculture is all the more vulnerable.

The activists don’t know much about aquaculture, so they’ve connected with Food and Water Watch, a nonprofit in Washington and San Francisco. It’s a multi-million dollar organization with 65 employees. It’s big business.

FWW attacks Starbucks and water bottlers because they use water, a public resource, to make a profit. They also oppose aquaculture nationally. Hawai’i is a perfect laboratory for aquaculture and thus for FWW. If aquaculture can be stopped here, it can be stopped across the country, mission accomplished.

PITCHED BATTLE OF WEBSITES

The result is lots of protest — blogs, websites, brochures, bulk mail, fuming letters to the editor, “embargoed” reports, and over-the-top press releases. It’s a full-tilt campaign to scare the public with stories of evil corporations spilling tons of GMOs, pernicious antibiotics and toxic chemicals into the ocean.

Those stories, like Avatar, are untrue.

Then add regular appearances at government meetings and moratorium bills by suggestible legislators. The activists want their new aquaculture cause to resonate with earlier ones against GMOs and Superferry, telescopes and geothermal. For 2010, aquaculture is the cause of the day.

The activists attacking aquaculture are professionals who have been involved in every cause you can think of, from Kingdom Title forward. With help from FWW, their new alliance is Pono Aquaculture, but the players are the same few people and organizations that have been protesting causes in Hawai’i for years.

MISSTATEMENTS GALORE

From a factual point of view, the FWW attack on aquaculture is unbridled. In many ways, its hostility surpasses that of the Superferry opponents. Perhaps that’s because there is less to support it. Instead of a reasoned conversation, we get exaggerations, misstatements, mischaracterizations, and lots of name calling.

After working to slow down and undermine the aquaculture sector on every level, they claim “factory fish farming” is unprofitable and failing. There it is — first you create misfortune for your adversary, and then you criticize him for it.

Beyond that, they tap into our local culture to sell their cause to people who are disaffected, fabricating an array of arguments for the proposition that aquaculture, which has long been designated as a top priority in our state policy, now somehow violates exclusive native Hawaiian fishing rights.

MEDIA VULNERABILITY

We can’t run a state if we take our signals from those who are opposed to virtually everything. We need to know science and do critical thinking. We need someone to regularly investigate the facts and inform an unwary public.

Unfortunately, the media does not always do this. That’s not fair to the readers. Activist organizations try to foment public opposition using the media. If the media takes everything they say at face value without further inquiry, you can be sure the public will be misinformed. If the media doesn’t do critical thinking to identify misinformation, who will?

HAWAI’I, THE CONSUMER STATE

By not developing aquaculture, we have no food security and we’re spending almost as much buying foreign fish as buying foreign oil. As an island state, we should have the best ferry system in the world. We should also have the best aquaculture in the world. We don’t. There’s no good reason for that.

For their own agenda, the activists are ignoring state policy and creating an imbalance that is not fair or pono. The sooner our officials realize this, the sooner the imbalance can be corrected and we can catch up. Short of that, we’re headed for backwater, where we really will need those ancient fishponds.

In Hawai’i, it’s been politically incorrect to argue with activists. If the majority cares about our future, they’ll have to speak out. Democracy is more than anti-policy imposed by a militant few. A passive majority is the ultimate complicity.

Will aquaculture be the next Superferry? You decide.

Jay Fidell is a business lawyer practicing in Honolulu. He has followed tech and tech policy closely and is a founder of ThinkTech Hawaii.

From Shelley:

Aloha mai kakou,

Pa’a in Hawaiian means many things, such as to be firm or fastened–like an ‘opihi to a rock, to be vigorous, steadfast, engaged. Last week we held a press conference unveiling the Pono Aquaculture Alliance (PAA) which is made up of groups and individuals who are calling for a critical look at open ocean factory fish farms  in Hawaii–a business that is slated to expand more than 900% in the next 5 years.

Why are we concerned? Ocean aquaculture comes in many types, from traditional loko i’a (fishponds) to industrial-scale factory fish feed lots. In Hawai’i, we need to make some important choices today about the kind of future we want for aquaculture in these islands. We at KAHEA believe that aquaculture must be pursued in a way that does not harm our oceans and lands, does not allow genetically modified fish or feed, does not dump pharmaceuticals in our waters, does not block public access, and does not privitize public trust submerged lands. If cannot? Well, pohō.

There was good press coverage, check out the story that ran in the Honolulu Advertiser.  http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20104090332 We want to thank Uncle Kale Gumapac of Kanaka Council, Rob and Christina from FWW, Aunty Kat from Ka Lei Maile Alii Civic Club, Henry Curtis of Life of the Land and Dr. Neil Frazer from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at UH Manoa who all contributed to this event. And a special mahalo to Uncle Isaac Harp for his work on this event, his manaʻo, and his solidarity.

What I believe:  Today, Hawaiʻi is being used as a test lab that proponents call “pioneering” but I would call “reckless”.  Supporters of industrial fish farms are selling their industrial model as “modern day Hawaiian fishponds”–a claim that is not only misleading, but demonstrates a lack of understanding of traditional resource management.  One of the benefits that  proponents cite is that their model will help lessen over-fishing.  This isn’t true if you’re raising carnivorous fish (like the kahala–”kona kampachi”–grown at Kona Blue, or like the ‘ahi operation venture capitalists at Hawaii Ocean Technologies–HOTI–are trying to start up) that require wild fish being caught elsewhere and imported–creating a hole in the wild food chain.

Later in the evening, after the press conference, we held a community meeting at UH Manoa Hawaiian Studies building.  We want to thank all the concerned citizens who showed up to learn and contribute their mana’o on this topic.  You guys can check out PAA’s unity statement and get more information about OOA at ponoaqua.org.

We must remember that the stakes are different, dare I say higher, for community members.  Worst case scenario for big business is they lose money, and have to pack up and go home.  Worst case scenario for the community is the end of free access to our oceans, which means losing the ability to feed ourselves and our children and their children.

Together with the Center for Biological Diversity and the Turtle Island Restoration Network, we  filed suit in December in Federal District Court against the National Marine Fisheries Service, to challenge a new rule allowing expansion of the Hawaii longline swordfish fishery—with a dramatic increase in allowable take of threatened and endangered sea turtles. The plaintiffs are represented by the amazing attorneys over at Earthjustice.

A week later, the Snorkel Bob Foundation of Hawaii pledged $10,000 to sponsor that litigation.

Robert Wintner, Executive Director of the Snorkel Bob Foundation, said, “The opening line of our mission statement stipulates that we will defend against incidental kill of marine species, so this litigation is compulsory for us. Earthjustice is not a conservation outfit soliciting grant money and selling vague concepts. It’s a results-oriented law firm that we’re proud to support. Beyond that, the plaintiffs in this case—KAHEA, Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biodiversity are also proven achievers in the field. We know these groups and stand firmly beside them.”

Wintner added that this case will highlight outdated ocean management policy that must change to allow for ocean recovery. “The oceans can no longer provide limitless protein for growing human populations. It’s over. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is now part of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA). Both are in the Department of Commerce. That means ocean management is based on maximum dollar extraction and not on recovery. These agencies should be part of the Department of the Interior, where conservation and recovery are primary management factors.

“Look at the line of communication here: the president of the Hawaii Longline Association (HLA) is Shaun Martin, who is vested in the swordfish longline fishery. HLA drafted a recommendation that the swordfish fishery be expanded with a dramatic increase on incidental take of endangered turtles. Mr. Martin then delivered that recommendation to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WESPAC), where he took off his HLA president hat and put on his WESPAC president hat. WESPAC then agreed that the swordfish fishery be expanded. WESPAC uses the word “conservation” more than most agencies in its communications, but its members and officers are significantly vested in commercial extraction. The WESPAC recommendation then went to NMFS, the agency authorized to process such recommendations. NMFS has a history of going along with WESPAC recommendations. This effort to blatantly override the evidence and global consensus began some time ago, with the wheels of bureaucracy grinding slowly. The Commerce Department employs thirty thousand people, and like a giant ocean liner, it does not change course quickly. Now we have a new administration agenda reflecting long-term management policies and ocean recovery. Now we go to the judicial arena, with Earthjustice representing exactly what it’s named for. I call this money well spent.”

Mahalo to “Uncle Bob” and all the amazing people over at Snorkel Bob and Snokel Bob Foundation!

From Snorkel Bob (Robert Wintner), on Tuesday’s Ocean Policy Task Force:

Consensus was overwhelming; conservation efforts in Hawaii have been stifled in the name of commerce for too long. The Ocean Policy Task Force may render a sea change in priorities & approach. We shall see. At any rate, NOAA got the message with a panel representing depth in science & political will. The HPR commentator noted aquarium extraction as a common complaint throughout the session. By raising many voices, we got the point across.

Irene Bowie for Maui Tomorrow challenged the wisdom of re-opening the Hawaii swordfish longline fishery, that would allow triple allowable “take” of loggerhead & leatherback turtles, which includes any form of interaction, with the expectation that up to 3 adult females and up to about 7 other loggerheads would be killed annually. The longline issue was spearheaded at the San Francisco task force venue, though it’s a Hawaii “fishery,” so Irene’s testimony stood out.

You can still submit your testimony to the Task Force online here.

From Alana:

Too often loko i’a are talked about as things of the past, and somewhat obsolete. They are spoken of like memorials of a time past, a time when Hawaiians could essentially farm huge amounts of fish without even needing to feed them. But those days are over, right? No, they don’t have to be. 

On Saturday at He’eia fishpond in Kaneohe, a bunch of people got together to help fish some of the predators, like baracuda, out of the fishpond. He’eia is an estimated 800 years old. It is owned by Bishop Estate, and is cared for by  Paepae o He’eia, a private non-profit organization. It has taken them years to clear destructive mangrove trees off of about half the fishpond wall, and they are still working on fixing a hole in the wall, but they still manage to produce and sell moi. He’eia produces anywhere between 300 and 700 pounds of moi each year and that number is expected to increase when the wall is fixed and the fishpond is completely restored. About 100 years ago there were many more fishponds all around the island, but most of them have either been filled in completely with mangroves, or are in ruin. 

He’eia, though, is a beautiful example of how community effort can lead to something meaningful and productive. Although many fishponds are privately owned now, they could still serve as productive entities of society. He’eia and Moli’i on O’ahu both manage to. Hawaiian fishponds utilized a system that was not found anywhere else on the planet. It was probably the most efficient and sustainable way of raising herbivore fish ever. Fishponds are not the remnants of an ancient culture. Hawaiians are still here, and Hawaii can still benefit from fishponds.

From Alana:

As a result of many letters being sent to state representatives, Rep. Mazie Hirono has decided to co-sponsor the “Offshore Aquaculture is not Fishing Act of 2009″. The bill asserts that under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Secretary of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and regional fishery management councils do not have the authority to permit or regulate the commercial ocean fish farming industry, because it is not fishing. 

The federal law that gives the Gulf Council and NOAA authority to regulate fish and fishing region-by-region was not intended to govern risky industrial enterprises like ocean fish farms.

This is a step in the right direction for the regulation of offshore aquaculture, which might soon happen in the Gulf of Mexico, and expand in places like Hawaii.