STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1201-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: H.R. No. 91
                                     




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ocean Recreation and Marine Resources, to
which was referred H.R. 91 entitled: 

     "HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES
     SERVICE TO CLOSE THE NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS LOBSTER
     FISHERY TO PROTECT THE ENDANGERED HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request that the National
Marine Fisheries Service close the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
lobster fishery for at least three years, so that the Hawaiian
monk seal, a critically endangered marine mammal is given every
opportunity to survive.

     Testimony in support of this measure was given by the Midway
Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, the Hawaiian Political
Action Council of Hawaii, and two individuals.  Testimony in
opposition was submitted by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery
Management Council and two individuals.  

     Your Committee finds that the Hawaiian monk seal is one of
the most endangered marine mammals on earth and is site-specific
to the Hawaiian Islands, and that the monk seal population at the
French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is
presently in sharp decline due to the increasing scarcity of its
food supply.  Your Committee further finds that lobster is an
important food item for the Hawaiian monk seal, and that as a
result of overfishing in the 1980's, lobster stocks have declined

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1201-00
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significantly.  There are now only about 1,300 to 1,400 Hawaiian
monk seals left on earth, and juvenile seals are starving to
death. 

     Your Committee concurs with the the Marine Mammal
Commission, the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Team, and the Fishery
Rights of Indigenous People Advisory Panel to the Western Pacific
Regional Management Council in their request for the closure of
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lobster fishery as a necessary
immediate strategy to ensure that the Hawaiian monk seal's
population will not diminish further and that this species will
indeed have a chance to survive.

     This measure requests that the National Marine Fisheries
Service close the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lobster fishery
for at least three years, so that this critically-endangered
marine mammal can be given every opportunity to survive.  

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ocean Recreation and Marine Resources that is
attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent
and purpose of H.R. 91 and recommends its adoption.


                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Ocean Recreation
                                   and Marine Resources,



                                   ______________________________
                                   ROY M. TAKUMI, Chair