Bill Text: HI HCR14 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 14 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle; Active Management; Endangered Species

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-03-05 - Referred to ENE/WTL/PSM. [HCR14 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-HCR14-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	14
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

URGING THE UNITED STATES TO RECOGNIZE THE RECOVERY OF HAWAIIAN GREEN SEA TURTLES AND BEGIN ACTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THIS IMPORTANT SPECIES.

WHEREAS, in the early 1970s, the State of Hawaii developed a management plan to limit the hunting of the Hawaiian green sea turtle, known as honu, in Hawaii by requiring permits and reporting; and

WHEREAS, in 1978, the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) was listed as a threatened and protected species under the Federal Endangered Species Act; and

WHEREAS, because green sea turtles are classified as a threatened and protected species worldwide, the Hawaiian green sea turtle has received the same protections; and

WHEREAS, such protections required the cessation of harvesting honu as a traditional Hawaiian food source, despite protests by the State and the people of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, today, scientific studies as well as reports by Native Hawaiian lawaia (cultural practitioners of fishing) have concluded that the honu population is approaching full recovery and that the environment and ecosystem are suffering from the current over-protection and over-population of honu; and

WHEREAS, on June 16, 2011, Fishers Forum: The Future of Honu Management, was convened by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to inform the public about the status of honu, the process for delisting a species from the Endangered Species Act, and to initiate community dialogue regarding the future management of honu; and

WHEREAS, the Recovery Plan for the United States Pacific Populations of the Green Sea Turtle of 1998 requires that a management plan be in place to maintain sustained populations of green sea turtles in order for the species to be considered for delisting; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that the United States is urged to recognize the recovery of the Hawaiian green sea turtle and begin the active management of this species; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Marine Fisheries Service and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service are urged to designate the Hawaiian green sea turtle as a distinct population segment and delist it from the threatened species list under the Endangered Species Act; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Regional Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Pacific Islands Regional Office; the Chairperson of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council; the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources; and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.