UPDATE: January 29, 2009

HB 191 to regulate the aquarium trade in Hawaii is scheduled for a hearing in the House Water, Land & Ocean Resources Committee (WLO) on Monday morning, February 2, at 9 a.m. in Room 325 at the State Capitol.

PLEASE attend and testify if you can. If you cannot attend, submit testimony as follows:

ONLINE TESTIMONY

1)  Go to   http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony/ 

2)  Type in “HB191” where it asks for the measure, then click on  “Get latest hearing.”

3) Verify the information is correct – it should say:
WLO
325
2/2/2009, 9:00 AM 

4) Fill in your info* and select: SUPPORT. Write a brief comment.  Click “Submit”.

*you will see space for your home address but this info is not necessary for your testimony to count. This issue is emotional. This info will be printed. You may want to put only your general area of residence.

FAX TESTIMONY:
For comments less than 5 pages in length, transmit to 586-8504 (Oahu) or 1-800-535-3859 (Neighbor Islands);

Talking Points:  Keep it brief. Avoid facts & figures. No matter what we say, the aquarium advocates will call it untrue. The committee will count support and opposition. Give the aquarium collectors NOTHING to grasp.

IF YOU CAN ATTEND, you should refute any untruths in aquarium collector testimony.

NOTE: TESTIMONY CAN BE FILED TECHNICALLY UNTIL 9 A.M. SUNDAY, BUT THIS IS YEAR ONE FOR ALL ELECTRONIC TESTIMONY, SO FOR BEST ODDS ON COUNTING, SUBMIT BY 4 P.M. FRIDAY—TOMORROW!

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Also scheduled for Monday’s WLO hearings is HB366 to protect manta rays.

Mainland and international aquariums are looking to harvest our mantas for their exhibits – they may only live several months in captivity.  Please testify in support of HB366 as well, using the same instructions but inserting “HB366” in the first step.

This is the culmination of years of campaigning. We have a shot. Thank you, thank you, thank you.