LIHU‘E — Unsatisfied with the federal government’s penalties that have failed to deter the harassment and killing of Hawai‘i’s endangered species, state lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands. The state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to supplement
LIHU‘E — Unsatisfied with the federal government’s penalties that have failed to deter the harassment and killing of Hawai‘i’s endangered species, state lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands.
The state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to supplement the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 by changing Section 195D-9 of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes to state that any person who intentionally or knowingly kills a Hawaiian monk seal shall be guilty of a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $50,000.
Currently, such violations are considered by the state to be misdemeanors punishable by up to one year in prison and fines up to $2,500 for the first offense. The federal law has a maximum prison term of one year and a maximum fine of $50,000.
The proposal, introduced by Sen. Gary Hooser and three other senators, passed third reading 21-1 and will now be transmitted to the House, where two similar bills have already been introduced.
“Passing this legislation will send a message that the people of Hawai‘i will not stand by and allow individuals to take their anger out on innocent animals,” Hooser said in a press release when the bill was introduced.
The legislation states that the number of species, the diversity of genes and the different ecosystems on earth are all part of biological diversity that “ensures natural sustainability for all life forms and healthy ecosystems that can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters” but is threatened by human activities that cause extinctions.
“Despite the protections provided by the federal Endangered Species Act, these animals continue to be at risk,” Senate Bill 2441 states. “Two recent incidents of intentionally killed Hawaiian monk seals on Kaua‘i and one on Moloka‘i have brought attention to the human threat to Hawai‘i’s endangered species.”
In September, 78-year-old Charles Vidinha pleaded guilty to shooting a pregnant female Hawaiian monk seal at Pila‘a on Kaua‘i’s North Shore. He was sentenced by a federal judge to a 90-day prison term, one year supervised release and a $25 fine.
“The Legislature finds that this sentence is not sufficient to deter future harassment of Hawai‘i’s endangered species, specifically mink (sic) seals,” the bill states. “In order to protect Hawaiian monk seals from future harassment and death, greater penalties need to be imposed.”
Opposition
Sen. Fred Hemmings, who represents Kailua, Lanikai, Waimanalo and Hawai‘i Kai and is one of the Senate’s two Republicans, cast the lone vote in opposition.
“I am probably one of the biggest conservationists in the Legislature,” Hemmings said Tuesday. “Having said that, I voted against the bill because it’s way too broad and would allow environmental extremists to bring charges for harming a plant or a flower that they didn’t even know was endangered and make a felony out of it.”
Told that the bill was amended by the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations last week to apply only to monk seals and not other endangered species, Hemmings acknowledged that the bill’s breadth was not a problem.
Hemmings said the issue is not that there are not enough laws but that the current laws are not being enforced or the sentences are too lenient.
“What happened on Kaua‘i, especially with the killing of that one (pregnant) seal, was unconscionable. … The issue was not enforcing the law; there was a conviction, but the sentence was relatively light,” he said, calling Vidinha’s 90-day prison term and $25 fine “insulting.”
“If you can’t adequately enforce and penalize these wanton acts like what happened on Kaua‘i, making a new law is not necessarily going to solve the problem,” he said.
“I am a huge supporter of monk seals and I will continue to be, but I want to implement laws that will be enforced,” Hemmings said. “State government is too big and too costly and we’re not prioritizing our expenditures.”
Education
Keiko Bonk, Hawai‘i program director for the Marine Conservation Biology Institute and one of the founders of the new Save Our Seal campaign, said Tuesday that the bill is “a good start to draw attention to the fact that we have to take our endangered species more seriously.”
Hawai‘i is home to more than 300 endangered species, earning it the somewhat ignominious title of “endangered species capital of the world,” and while Bonk said she would have liked to see the bill protect all endangered species as it was originally written, “we can address that next year.”
Other state bills relating to species protection — Senate Bill 2362 would have developed public service announcement films for all inbound commercial flights and Senate Bill 2363 would have established informational kiosks at airports — failed this year but could be pursued again in the future, she said.
A change in the local culture over the next 10 to 20 years will be needed to protect the monk seal and other endangered species, Bonk said, adding that “it’s the responsibility of every resident and visitor in Hawai‘i to protect our species” and that the monk seal can serve as “a good iconic species to change the culture in Hawai‘i to understand what it means to take care of an ecosystem.”
For more information on SB 2441 and its progress through the House, go to www.capitol.hawaii.gov. For more information on monk seal protection, visit the Marine Conservation Biology Institute Web site, www.mcbi.org.
