#Kai Palaoa

The Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled in a 4-1 decision today that the pet industry’s environmental review of commercial aquarium fish collection in West Hawai‘i is legally adequate.

Conservation groups, Native Hawaiian fishers and cultural practitioners sued the Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources today to protect West Hawai‘i’s reefs and coastal areas from commercial extraction of fish and other wildlife for the aquarium pet trade.

The State of Hawai’i Environmental Council issued a unanimous decision on Thursday effectively extending the ban aimed at reopening the collection of West Hawai’i reef fish for aquarium trade. The decision signaled a victory for reef advocates, many of whom expressed concern about the impacts of commercial aquarium collection on the ocean’s health for decades.