by Art Parola

Last week, Rep. Ed Case of Hawaii (brother of Suzanne Case, the Director of Hawaii BLNR when the Hawaii aquarium fishery was shut down) reintroduced the Saving NEMO Act, H.R. 2176 at the behest of anti-aquarium activists. The bill has the same language as the bill introduced in the last Congress which we reported on here. Pushed under the guise of ensuring sustainability, the true purpose of the bill is to implement regulations that are so complex that they would be impossible to comply with, amounting to a de facto ban on marine aquarium species sourced both from the wild and from aquaculture.

While to some, the bill may look benign or even positive on its face, the intricacies of administrative law camouflage its true impact. However, the activists intimately understand the bill’s true potential. Upon introducing the Saving NEMO Act in the last session, anti-aquarium activists made posts on social media celebrating that it would end all aquarium fisheries worldwide.

The passage of H.R. 2176 would be a disaster for retailers, wholesalers, importers, product manufacturers, and aquarium service professionals in the United States. The job loss in nations that export aquarium species and products would likely be even more significant. On a global scale, tens of thousands of jobs would be eliminated. The far-reaching benefits of the aquarium trade and hobby will be lost, from the research and development for much of the technology used in coral restoration to the fisheries that allow coastal communities to practice sustainable livelihoods where few, if any, alternatives exist.

While the Saving NEMO Act gives lip service to allowing imports from managed fisheries and qualified mariculture operations, the requirements in the bill outline a regulatory scheme that will be far too onerous to comply with. The bill ensures that a similar scenario to the current situation in Hawaii will be applied to all fisheries and mariculture programs around the world. This should be no surprise considering the same activists who shut down the Hawaii fishery are behind this bill. In West Hawaii, fishers have completed all environmental review requirements, and the ban on aquarium fishing has officially been lifted. Still, no fishing is occurring because complications in the administration of the law have allowed the Land Board to drag their feet indefinitely on issuing the permits required for the fishers to get back in the water. Aquarium fishing is 100% legal in Hawaii but requires a permit, which is unobtainable. The Saving NEMO Act sets the stage for this for all aquarium fisheries and mariculture operations worldwide.

Under the Saving NEMO Act, aquaculture, even in the United States, will fare no better. The bill outlines regulations with standards so that even the most sophisticated aquaculture operations will have difficulty achieving the “qualified” facility designation required to continue operating. Fragging and home breeding will cease to exist as the cost of meeting the regulations will be exorbitant for commercial operations, let alone hobbyists.

It is not an accident that the week this bill was reintroduced, Martin Sheen launched a PR campaign to promote an anti-aquarium film starring Snorkel Bob, and PETA published social media posts stating that fish don’t belong in homes, but “in nature, with their families.” [Read the OFI response here] The bill is part of a larger, coordinated push by activist organizations to end aquarium keeping, both by setting public perception against aquarists and by using the law to mandate their agenda and ideology.

You can use the Find Your Representative tool (https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative) on the U.S. House of Representatives website to contact your Congressperson and respectfully ask him or her to OPPOSE H.R. 2176 to protect the environmental, social, and economic benefits of the aquarium trade and hobby. Including personal anecdotes in communications to your representative on why aquarium keeping is important to you and/or your livelihood is particularly helpful.