THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	117
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

URGING THE STATE OF HAWAII TO RECOGNIZE THE THIRD SATURDAY OF EVERY APRIL AS "HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL DAY" AND TO COORDINATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOVERY PLAN FOR THE HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL WITH THE FEDERAL AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS.

     WHEREAS, the Hawaiian monk seal (monachus schauinslandi) is endemic to the Hawaiian islands and known to native Hawaiians as ilio-holo-i-ka-uaua, or "dog running in rough seas"; and

     WHEREAS, the Hawaiian monk seal is one of the world's most critically endangered marine mammals and the nation's most endangered endemic marine mammal; and

     WHEREAS, the Hawaiian monk seal was designated Hawaii's official state mammal on July 1, 2008, by Act 72, Session Laws of Hawaii 2008; and

     WHEREAS, the Hawaiian monk seal, as a species, is thirteen million years old, older than the islands of Maui and Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, fewer than twelve hundred Hawaiian monk seals remain in the Hawaiian archipelago; and

     WHEREAS, the Hawaiian monk seal may be the last of its genus to survive because the Caribbean monk seal was last sighted in the 1950s and officially declared extinct in June 2008, and the Mediterranean monk seal has declined to the small population of approximately five hundred; and

     WHEREAS, human and environmental factors such as habitat loss, competition for food supply, marine debris entanglement, disease, shark predation, and climate change have contributed to the species decline; and

     WHEREAS, Hawaiian monk seals are protected by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, P.L. 93-205, as amended (MMPA) and the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, P.L. 95-522, as amended (ESA), which listed the Hawaiian monk seal as endangered in 1976; and

     WHEREAS, the MMA and ESA protect the species and the ecosystems on which they depend, and make harming, harassing, taking, or killing these animals subject to fines of up to $50,000; and

     WHEREAS, most of the Hawaiian monk seal population exists in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands where the seal population is rapidly declining at the rate of four per cent per year; and

     WHEREAS, the population of Hawaiian monk seals found in the main Hawaiian islands is increasing slightly from its current population estimated at between one hundred and one hundred fifty monk seals; and

     WHEREAS, the Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi), Second Revision, (Recovery Plan) was approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in August 2007; and

     WHEREAS, the Recovery Plan includes the need for public education and outreach to develop best practices for humans to enable the seals to survive; and

     WHEREAS, Earth Day, which is a recognition of the importance of earth's biodiversity, is celebrated in the month of April; and

     WHEREAS, every third Saturday of April is the day NOAA conducts a statewide monk seal count; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the State of Hawaii is urged to designate the third Saturday of every April as "Hawaiian Monk Seal Day" to coincide with NOAA's statewide semi-annual monk seal count; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this day be designated as a day to educate residents and visitors about how to protect this critically endangered species; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Land and Natural Resources coordinate with the county governments and NOAA to implement the Recovery Plan; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, mayors of the counties, chairpersons of the county councils, and Administrator of NOAA.

Report Title: 

Hawaiian Monk Seal Day