Oppose extending fish farm leases

SOURCE: Shannon Rudolph (shannonkona@gmail.com) SUBHEAD: Proposed Hawaii bill would increase ocean fish farm leases from 35 years up to 65 years. Image above: Inside fish farm off the coast of the Big Island. From (http://www.noaa.gov/features/resources_0109/images/aqua1.jpg). See also (http://www.lib.noaa.gov/retiredsites/docaqua/reports_noaaresearch/hooarrprept.htm) and (http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2010/07/29/congress-fails-to-keep-dirty-factory-fish-farms-out-of-the-gulf/). HB 568 and SB 1511, which would increase ocean fish farm leases from 35 years up to 65 years, will be heard THIS Tuesday (March 1) by the Senate Ways and Means Committee (at 9:20 am) and the House Finance Committee (at 2pm). HB 568 and SB 1511 are companion bills -- if they both pass during these hearings, they are very likely to become law. I think if we got 20 calls in to each of the committee chairs on Monday that they might take notice. From what I've been told, they aren't used to getting too many phone calls. Written testimony is also very important and due by Monday at 5pm -- the link to do that is below. Can you commit to making a phone call to each chair and getting one or two other people to as well? Chair for Senate Ways and Means: David Y. Ige 586-6230 Chair for House Finance: Marcus R. Oshiro 586-6200 Here's a short sample script: FOR HOUSE:

"Aloha, I'm calling about HB 568 which will be heard by Representative's Finance committee tomorrow. I'm opposed to it because it would extend lease terms for open ocean fish farms from 35 to 65 years, even though such operations have been environmentally damaging and could have a negative impact on tourism and fishing. It's a highly experimental industry that has generated little revenue for the state but has stretched the resources of permitting and oversight agencies. It would be premature to increase lease terms without any studies on the potential long term impacts of the industry or what it could cost the state to continue to support it."

FOR SENATE:

"Aloha, I'm calling about SB 1511 which will be heard by Senator's Ways and Means committee tomorrow. I'm opposed to it because it would extend lease terms for open ocean fish farms from 35 to 65 years, even though such operations have been environmentally damaging and could have a negative impact on tourism and fishing. It's a highly experimental industry that has generated little revenue for the state but has stretched the resources of permitting and oversight agencies. It would be premature to increase lease terms without any studies on the potential long term impacts of the industry or what it could cost the state to continue to support it."

They'll probably ask if you are going to be submitting testimony. If you will be, then you can say "Yes, I just wanted to make sure that Senator/Representative heard directly about my concerns." Written testimony can be submitted here: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony/ Type in the bill number in the search box, and it will pull up the hearing date and time. Then fill out the form. You can either type directly into the comment box or upload testimony. You'll need to do this separately for each bill. Testimony doesn't have to be elaborate. While detail and supporting information carries weight, it can be as simple as:

"I'm opposed to HB 568/SB 1511 because it would extend lease terms for open ocean fish farms from 35 to 65 years, even though such operations have been environmentally damaging and could have a negative impact on tourism and fishing. It's a highly experimental industry that has generated little revenue for the state but has stretched the resources of permitting and oversight agencies. It would be premature to increase lease terms without any studies on the potential long term impacts of the industry or what it could cost the state to continue to support it."

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