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Posted: Sunday, October 9th, 2005 6:20 AM HST

Unregulated aquarium fishing worries biologists, divers

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ Marine biologists and divers are growing worried about the unregulated harvesting of fish and other marine creatures in Hawaii. Many are concerned the industry _ which supplies home aquariums across the nation _ may harm the environment, the tourism industry and the aquarium fishery itself. Robert Wintner is the owner of the dive shop Snorkel Bob's. He says Hawaii's reefs are being strip mined by aquarium collectors. The Big Island's Kona Coast has a five-year-old project to regulate the taking of aquarium fish. But almost everywhere else in the state, a 50 dollar permit allows collectors to net as many of a species as they want, wherever they want, whenever they want. Aquarium fishermen have been required since the 1970s to submit monthly catch reports, but many don't fill them out. The state said last year that close to half of the reports fish collectors were required to submit for fishing along the Big Island's Kona coast were not filed between 1998 and 2003. (Copyright 2005 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)