STAND. COM. REP. NO. 35

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 730

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 730 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FISHPONDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to support the Department of Land and Natural Resources in restoring and restocking fishponds by providing fingerlings and limu and establishing one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) Aquaculture Coordinator Biologist VI position.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kua‘āina Ulu ‘Auamo, Hawai‘i Food+ Policy, Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action, Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center, Hawai‘i SEED, Kauai Sea Farms LLC, and twenty-nine individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Ka‘upulehu Marine Life Advisory Committee.

Your Committee finds that traditional Hawaiian fishponds, or loko ia, are unique aquaculture systems that feed and connect communities around the islands. Loko ia are important to traditional Hawaiian cultural practices and ecological watershed health, and help to promote food security in the State. Your Committee further finds that restocking loko ia with juvenile fish will support ongoing efforts to restore loko ia and make them more sustainable. Therefore, the purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for the restoration and restocking of loko ia.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 730, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 730, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair