The Manta Bill has passed the House, moving to the Senate!!!

Aloha,

I wanted to thank everyone for their hard work and letters of testimony supporting the manta bill (HB366). The House just voted to pass the bill with no one opposed, which means it will now continue its journey in the Senate!

While this is a huge milestone for the mantas rays, the bill still has to pass committee hearings in the Senate. Please continue your pressure on the legislature to keep the bill moving. If you haven’t sent in testimony yet, please send it to testimony@mantapacific.org and we will submit it for you in each of the hearings. If you want to submit testimony directly, you will need to wait till the next committee decides to hear it and then submit it at: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony/

The status and text of the bill can be found at:
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/lists/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=366

Mahalo,

Tim Clark
Zoology Department
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, HI 96822
(808) 226-1853

Dear Fellow Manta Researchers,

Thanks for your support with the manta ray bills. HB366 just passed the Water, Land, and Ocean committee yesterday. Now it is going to the Judiciary committee. I appreciate your testimony on that bill.

We also have another bill in the senate. SB394 has not been scheduled for hearing yet, but we will need just as much testimony for that bill. If you haven’t sent it in yet, you can used the same site to submit testimony for both bills:
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony/

It was great hearing them read off all the names of people who submitted testimony in support. The only one testifying against the bill was my advisor, which was not unexpected. Please continue to spread the word about these bills. I am hoping we can double the testimony by the time the senate bill comes up!

Here is the original press release from Manta Pacific Research Foundation:

PRESS RELEASE
Manta Ray Protection Bills Introduced into the Hawaiian House and Senate - Testimony needed ASAP

Honolulu, HAWAII - January 29, 2009

Two bills have been introduced into the Hawaiian Legislature for manta ray protection in the state - one each in the House and the Sentate. House Bill 366, stating that "no person shall knowingly capture or kill a manta ray within state marine waters", was introduced on Friday by Representatives Denny Coffman and Hermina Morita and was also signed by 9 more representatives. Senate Bill 394, using the same language, was introduced by Kona Senator Josh Green and Senator Mike Gabbard.

While manta rays have been fished for years in Indonesia, Baja, the Philippines, Africa and throughout Asia, no fishery has ever existed in Hawaii. Hawaii has a healthy population of manta rays, but information on the life history and movement rate show that they would be highly susceptible to over fishing. Hawaii has now been targeted by aquarium as a location where they can capture manta rays for husbandry experiments and display in tanks. Without legislative protection, these aquariums will be able to take as many individuals from the population as they want without having to report on the fate of the individuals they take.

There is currently no legal protection for manta rays in the state.

HB366 is already scheduled to be heard by the Committee on Water, Land, and Ocean Resources on Monday February 2, 2009 at 9:00am.

MPRF requests you send testimony!

Your help is greatly needed to help protect manta rays in Hawaii. Please send testimony supporting HB366 and SB394 to our Representatives. Protocol requires that testimony for HB366 be submitted 24 hours prior to the hearing. Since the hearing is on Monday, to reach our Representatives in time, it should be submitted by 9:00am HST Friday January 30, 2009. (Further note: we have since learned that testimony can be submitted until Sunday February 1, 2009 at 9:00am HST)

You can submit via paper, fax, or the web. To submit via:
PAPER: send copies (including original) to Room 438 in the State Capitol;
FAX: For comments less than 5 pages in length, transmit to 586-8504 (Oahu) or 1-800-535-3859 (Neighbor Islands)
WEB: For comments less than 4MB in size, transmit through the webpage at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony

Links to More Information

Text of HB366
Text of SB394
Legislature Bill Status and Documents
WLO Hearing Agenda

About
Manta Pacific Research Foundation

Manta Pacific
Research Foundation’s mission is to study manta rays in their natural
habitat, conduct scientific research, provide education programs for
the public about manta rays and the marine environment, and to establish
and promote manta ray conservation.
For more information, go to http://www.mantapacific.org,
or write to Manta Pacific Research Foundation, P.O. Box 3227 Kailua-Kona,
HI 96745-3227 or email us at info@mantapacific.org.
Manta Pacific Research Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

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