A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MARICULTURE.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Takaki on February 11, 2010 at 8:30pm

My rebuttal to HB 2958, sent to Reps. CARROLL, HANOHANO, MORITA, Berg, McKelvey, Shimabukuro, Wooley and the members of the Water, Land, & Ocean Resources Committee and the Economic Revitalization, Business, & Military Affairs Committee. I heard from a Big Island source this afternoon that the bill may be deferred in committee.

Representative Mele Hanohano's quick reply to the cover letter sent to sponsors follows:

Aloha Dave,

Mahalo for taking the time to express your concerns and sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate it. I am open to spending some time with you to see your vision for Hawai'i. Please know that there are some major concerns regarding corporate fish farms that are being proposed on the big island, lanai and off of Kauai. This is how HB 2958 came about. I support aquaculture and other endeavors. However, there are many constituents who have expressed their concerns for the corporate fish farms that are being proposed.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your email message and look forward to visiting with you in the near future. Again, thank you for sharing your mana'o. It is very much appreciated.

Mahalo,
Mele Carroll

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Takaki
Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 7:16 PM
To: Rep. Mele Carroll
Subject: HB 2958

Aloha e Representative Carroll,

I realize HB 2958 may not come up for a hearing, but I would appreciate your consideration of a contrary perspective. Recently I revived a project (15-20 yrs ago) that has relevance with respect to HB 2958 that are about mariculture development.

My two main objectives regarding mariculture development in Hawaii would be assisting our state in leading the subtropical iteration of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture, IMTA, and a greater participation in this nascent technology with ancient roots by Native Hawaiians, our state's First Nation people. I believe evolving a cultural affinity and ethos regarding offshore technology is essential and should be organic to our island communities. I also believe a sustainable growth infrastructure starts with people. Over the next year I will be proposing a multi stage program where initial husbandry work of potential keystone trophic species is done by Principal Investigator researchers in concert with high school and college students.

Aside from a charter school at Keahole Point on Hawai'i, the only high school that currently has an aquaculture-mariculture program is in Makaha. I hope to induce Waianae High School's Dana Hoppe, who runs Marine Science Learning Center to raise the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla, a potential IMTA keystone species. To facilitate this, I intend to encourage ADP's Dave Cohen to help Waianae HS students incorporate the echinoderm Tripneustes gratilla into their existing ogo production. Similarly, perhaps Clyde Tamaru can suggest feed changes, shifting from somatic growth to gonad growth as the sea urchins approach maximum gonad quality to "polish off" (high lipid-high protein) before harvesting and selling to local Japanese restaurants (they already sell their ogo production) to begin to learn what is desirable to the discerning palate. Yes, I'm talking about students doing this.

At Nanakuli High School there is a teacher named Eric Whiteman. He has the equipment to set up a Mariculture Learning Center, but lacks funds to do the electrical hookup and to drill a well. He used to run the aquaculture operation at Campbell High School in Ewa. Eric would like to raise hard corals! He even has the assent of Dave Gulko. Dr. Shai Shafir, currently doing corals research at the Kewalo Marine Lab is very interested in assisting Eric.

I envision college and high school students working with PI researchers on potential trophic keystone species across the state. This could be incorporated with UHM's intent to have an online aquaculture teaching presence where adults can also come up to speed. Participants will be given assistance in applying for grants to investigate potential species and methods. I have personally seen the tremendous body of knowledge applicable to this endeavor in our island communities.

Even as land based species work is in train, the next stages of planning for and seeking permits and submerged lands leases for littoral and offshore research sites should begin.

To start, two general flavors of IMTA should be considered. One is where the system depends on feed input, albeit, one less reliant on wild caught fishmeal and fish oils. Feeds research is advancing rapidly in replacing fish being fed to fish.

The other approach is a more infrastructure intensive system that kick-starts with micro-algae and macroalgae production as the trophic base. Nutrient rich water from 900+ depths will be lifted to the photic zone of the water column. Whether or not the power is supplied by an OTEC system is an aspect of researching this approach. There is energy potential at the ocean-atmosphere interface as well. Researchers have looked at the resultant plume and means of entraining it. Perhaps drip irrigation methods should also be looked at. Diffusing nutrient rich waters from a large Aquapod (r) could be another approach. The second approach is of course closer to Chuck Helsley & Pat Takahashi's concept of open ocean ranching.

I believe that at this second experimental stage offshore, if the layout and experiment methods utilized are attractive, cash flow can be generated by making provisions for paying scuba visitors. I believe a number of scuba enthusiasts would respond to 'Come and dive into the future...' This could possibly provide income for practitioners-to-be even during the late experimental stages.

I believe reinvigorating mariculture development with First Nation people's participation would be a healing process as well. I have not lost any of my concerns for the environment, and also believe that if done with care, an innate respect for the ocean would imbue our nascent mariculture sector with a sense of what is pono. That is, traditional values become part of Hawaii's mariculture ethos.

Native Hawaiian Culture is not just the act of looking back to the past, seeking stasis, with preservation as the goal. Culture is alive, and there are Native Hawaiians that see the ocean, Moana as their future, looking to possibilities through the past accomplishments of Hawaiian mariculture technology and owning it as a source of pride and a beacon to the future.

I have studied traditional technologies and am somewhat disconcerted when say, Woods Hole's Marine Labs touts technology where finfish are managed with underwater sound signals. They are mimicking Hawaiian techniques and technology that is several hundred years old. What they haven't discovered yet how to do is work with barracuda to herd fish. Hawaiians developed these marine technologies long before Europeans set foot in Hawai'i.

I know of a young man, Adam, a Native Hawaiian from Moloka'i who has recently returned from Chile where he worked in mariculture because of no opportunity in Hawai'i. I know of another Native Hawaiian from Keanae on Maui, Damien, a combat veteran who is now a doctorial candidate at Scripps in San Diego who would like nothing better than to return to Hawai'i with his family to work and help build a world class mariculture industry with Native Hawaiian involvement. And then there is another Hawai'i native, this time Japanese American, who recently returned from South East Asia who is looking for opportunity in mariculture. Unfortunately this dearth of opportunity in the mariculture sector is what sent him away to begin with. Shall I tell you about Hope, the young Native Hawaiian woman at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo who is studying microalgae culture. Will she too leave home to find opportunity?

Yes, the Hilo campus is also involved in Mariculture research and development, as is Hawai'i Pacific University.

Sadly, people overlook the fact that a new generation of Hawaiians does look to the sea as a promise. Despite the tremendous obstacles, on Moloka'i people are trying to bring back two fishponds to productivity. All are conscious of their heritage and the need to see that their efforts in this regard must be pono.

You may wonder why I mention ethnicity. I'll be blunt. There is a prevailing misconception that this sector is only about Caucasians. And yes, bias exists in our state. Some individuals, under the guise of environmental concerns and Native Hawaiian rights have simplistically portrayed offshore mariculture as another taking. I understand and have compassion for the ethos that "now that they have taken away our lands and perverted our culture, 'they' want to take the ocean away as well."

Auwe! I empathize with this perspective, but see a greater whole.

In further opposition of House Bill 2958 I would like to address issues and concerns that could be detrimentally affected.

Another consideration reflects the above diaspora. Our state continues to do research that serves to benefit other states and countries. What's the sense in this if we don't support development in Hawai'i?

Currently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is engaged in developing regulations for offshore mariculture in US waters 200 to 3 miles offshore. If Hawai'i remains in neutral, the industry might develop 3+ miles offshore with untethered technologies being developed in Hawai'i, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico (ironically, with expatriate SOEST graduates' participation). If this occurs, expect commercial entities to obtain leases under the structure of a foreign C corporation, say from Nevada, where there is no corporate tax. Product would then transship thru Hawai'i, and aside from sales in our state, the only direct revenue benefit we will get will be taxing the profits of a transshipment subsidiary. We will again have shot ourselves in the foot.

The University of Hawai'i at Manoa is one of the original Sea Grant Colleges. In 1988 the University established the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, commonly known as SOEST. Hawai'i is a world-class locus for ocean related research. Graduates and researchers from SOEST have fanned out across our planet and have had a strong influence on ocean sciences and technology. And therein lies the rub. Like graduates from other departments and colleges at Manoa, our investment in people departs our state in the economic diaspora that has sent our best and brightest to benefit other states and countries.

After this session comes to a close, I would very much like to introduce you to a vision of a future Hawai'i you may never have been exposed to. I extend this not with arrogance, but hopeful humility.

Mahalo nui loa,

Dave Takaki

Attachments:

• HB 2958 Rebuttal.pdf, 3.9 MB

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