STAND. COM. REP. NO. 648

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 365

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems, to which was referred H.B. No. 365 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AQUACULTURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the farming of certain non-wild-caught octopuses for human consumption.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Animal Rights Hawaiʻi; Animal Legal Defense Fund; Animal Rights Initiative; Hawaiʻi Reef and Ocean Coalition; and nine individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the National Aquaculture Association; Hawaii Aquaculture and Aquaponics Association; and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Agriculture.

Your Committee finds that octopus farming presents significant risks to marine ecosystems, commercial fisheries, and animal welfare. Farmed octopuses are known to carry multiple pathogens, including parasites and bacterial infections, which can spread to wild marine species, disrupting the food web and amplifying disease transmission. In addition to these ecological concerns, octopus farming has raised ethical issues due to the species' advanced cognitive abilities. This measure addresses these concerns by prohibiting the farming of certain non-wild-caught octopuses for human consumption, ensuring the protection of marine biodiversity and promoting the ethical treatment of marine life.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 365, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 365, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems,

____________________________

KIRSTIN KAHALOA, Chair