The reopening of waters off Hawaii’s Kona coast to aquarium fishing took a step closer to reality after a state board decided to put forth a set of proposed rules for public hearings.

The Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday voted unanimously to approve the proposed rulings, a required step in the process of opening up waters again to the harvesting of fish from local waters to be sold as pets in saltwater aquariums worldwide.

BLNR’s decision came after hours of testimony, mostly in opposition to the controversial practice, which environmentalists and Hawaiians consider destructive and extractive to Hawaii’s reef, and which animal activists consider cruel to the fish themselves.

The commercial collection of aquarium fish has essentially been banned due to requirements st

See Full Page