STAND. COM. REP. NO. 839

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1093

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1093, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OCEAN HEALTH CONSENSUS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to develop a community-based consensus for managing Hawaii's marine resources by appropriating funds for the creation of an ocean health consensus project.

     Comments in support of this measure were submitted by the Center for Conservation Research and Training at the University of Hawaii and The Nature Conservancy.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources and the John A. Burns School of Medicine submitted comments.

     Your Committee finds twenty-five per cent of the fish species native to Hawaii are found nowhere else in the world.  Scientists estimate that a number of native fish species have declined by more than seventy-five per cent over the past one hundred years.  This is a loss that affects the livelihood of fishermen, Native Hawaiian culture and practices, and Hawaii's food supply.  Due to Hawaii's geographic isolation, and the high number of fish species that are exclusive to Hawaii, it is crucial that the State's shore reef systems and fisheries achieve and maintain a level of self-sufficiency and sustainability.

     Your Committee finds that a community-based consensus on the management of Hawaii's marine resources will provide valuable input and tools in the development of a plan to protect, preserve, and enhance the State's marine resources for the benefit of future generations.  This may be accomplished by establishing cooperation among the various stakeholders who use Hawaii's marine resources for sustenance, recreation, and commercial production. 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Replacing the amount of the appropriation in section 3 with an unspecified amount to facilitate further discussion; and

     (2)  Making technical, non-substantive amendments for the purposes of style and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1093, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1093, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair