STAND. COM. REP. NO. 736-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1572

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1572, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to temporarily:

(1) Establish a Restorative Aquaculture Development Program to reduce aquaculture permit processing time, support restorative aquaculture infrastructure expansion, increase aquaculture education and its workforce, and pursue federal aquaculture grants;

(2) Establish three pilot demonstration sites for restorative aquaculture; and

(3) Convene a Restorative Aquaculture Advisory Council.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity; University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program; Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United; Hawaiʻi Food+ Policy; and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau.

Your Committee finds that traditional Native Hawaiian aquaculture practices, including loko iʻa and the cultivation of indigenous species such as ʻamaʻama, awa, and limu, are integral to Native Hawaiian culture, food systems, and the stewardship of coastal and nearshore resources. Your Committee further finds that restorative aquaculture, when grounded in community-based management, offers meaningful opportunities to revitalize traditional practices, strengthen food sovereignty, and support the transmission of cultural knowledge to future generations.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying terminology to focus program eligibility and support on individuals engaged in or studying Native Hawaiian customary and traditional practices, rather than on Native Hawaiian status alone;

(2) Requiring the pilot demonstration site monitoring data to be included in the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity's annual report on the Program and used to support voluntary carbon tax credit applications and ecosystem service payment mechanisms;

(3) Amending the membership of the Restorative Aquaculture Advisory Council to specify the number of members, designate the appointing authorities, and delete the inclusion of legislators;

(4) Requiring the entire measure to repeal on June 30, 2030; and

(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1572, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1572, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair