STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3874

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.C.R. No. 198

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water and Land and Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 198 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE STATE'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO ADVOCATE FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF EXISTING INTERNATIONAL LAWS TO REDUCE GHOST NETS ENTERING THE STATE FROM INTERNATIONAL WATERS AND TAKE OTHER ACTIONS TO REDUCE MARINE DEBRIS FROM FISHING GEAR,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the State's congressional delegation to:

(1) Advocate for the enforcement of existing international laws to reduce ghost nets entering the State from international waters;

(2) Advocate for the establishment of a requirement for United States fishing vessels to mark their fishing gear; and

(3) Create financial incentives to retrieve and dispose of floating fishing gear.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Friends of Hanauma Bay, and one individual.

Your Committees find that discarded or lost fishing nets in the ocean, otherwise known as ghost nets, regularly wash in from international waters to the reefs of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, causing harm to the reef and marine wildlife. Your Committees further find that the International Law of the Sea allows states to take action against vessels entering their ports if there is evidence that they have abandoned or negligently lost fishing gear, although gear is not marked in a way as to trace ownership. Your Committees conclude that Hawaii's congressional delegation should advocate for the enforcement of existing international law and the establishment of new requirements and financial incentives to reduce the number of ghost nets entering Hawaiian waters.

Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Transportation and Culture and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 198, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 198, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair