HAR §13-74-43. Aquaculture license

(a) After review of a written application, the department may issue to any qualified aquaculturist a license to fish for, rear, possess, or sell any aquatic life whose fishing, possession, or sale is prohibited by closed season, minimum size, or bag limit; provided that the qualified aquaculturist rears or reared the aquatic life in an aquaculture facility for commercial purpose. To qualify for a license a qualified aquaculturist must satisfy the department that the qualified aquaculturist is able to maintain aquatic life or live rock alive and in good health in an aquaculture facility at all times in accordance with industry-wide standards. (b) The licensee shall make and issue a receipt whenever a transaction concerning regulated aquatic life occurs. The receipt shall be a written record of the transaction and shall include: (1) The transaction date; (2) The name and address of the licensee, the name of the person issuing the receipt, and the name and address of the person to whom the receipt is issued, except that the name and address of the person to whom the receipt is issued are not required if the transaction is with a person who will not resell the regulated aquatic life; (3) The name, weight, number or other appropriate measure of quantity, and value of all regulated aquatic life involved in the transaction; and (4) Any other information the department may require. (c) The licensee shall keep all receipts on file and be able to present such receipts for inspection upon demand of any officer authorized to enforce the laws of the State. The receipts shall be kept for not less than twenty-four months after the transaction date or until the regulated aquatic life is no longer in the licensee's possession, whichever is longer. The §13-74-43 74-19 department may approve the use of documents other than the receipts as written records of the transaction. (d) The licensee shall submit to the department a summary report on or before July 31st of each year, covering the previous twelve-month period between July 1st to June 30th. The report shall provide an accounting of the regulated aquatic life received, bought, sold, transferred, or exchanged. The accounting shall include the items involved in a transaction, the sum of the weight, number or other appropriate unit of quantity, and value, along with any other information the department may require. (e) Licensees that rear live rocks shall only use rocks for producing live rocks obtained from legal sources such as quarries or dredging operations. Harvesting, collecting, or otherwise obtaining live rocks from the wild is strictly prohibited. (f) Unless authorized in writing by the department, licensees shall not: (1) Release cultured aquatic life or live rock into state waters; (2) Fish for, in state waters, any regulated aquatic life or live rock; (3) Fish in areas where fishing is restricted by law; or (4) Use gear that the department has declared illegal except for small meshed nets, provided the net is not a small meshed thrownet. (g) The department may restrict or prohibit the rearing of any aquatic life as authorized by this section, such as those species whose entry into or possession in the State is restricted or prohibited pursuant to the rules of the department of agriculture, those species that the state or federal governments may list as threatened or endangered, or any aquatic life the department may determine to be unsuitable for commercial rearing in the State or otherwise potentially detrimental to living aquatic resources in the State. (h) The department may require licensees: (1) Who fish in the wild for regulated aquatic §13-74-43 74-20 life to report such catches and to include in the report the species, numbers, size, fishing location, amount of fishing effort, and any other information for the purpose of the license. The regulated aquatic life taken from the wild may only be used for stocking into the aquaculture facility as juveniles or used as adults to provide broodstock material. The licensee may not sell or offer for sale any regulated aquatic life taken from the wild that is less than the minimum size as specified by law; (2) To obtain a Conservation District Use Permit pursuant to chapter 13-53, Hawaii Administrative Rules, and a Right of Entry Permit pursuant to chapter 171, HRS, in addition to any other requirement of law; (3) To provide a list of names of any person that will buy or obtain any regulated aquatic life that was reared in the licensee's aquaculture facility. Any changes to the list shall be in writing; and (4) To submit additional monthly reports, trip reports, or other reports as required by the department. (i) A separate license shall be obtained for each aquaculture facility that rears, possesses, or sells regulated aquatic life, even if one person owns or operates several aquaculture facilities. A copy of the license shall be available for inspection upon the demand of any officer authorized to enforce the laws of the State, including whenever the regulated aquatic life are fished for, delivered, transported, or sold. The license shall be kept at the facility for immediate inspection. (j) For purposes of this section: "Aquaculture facility" means any farm, ranch, hatchery, pond, workplace, or place of business that is designed or intended for the rearing, breeding, or culturing of aquatic life or live rock in a controlled or managed salt, brackish, or freshwater environment. "Regulated aquatic life" means any aquatic life §13-74-43 74-21 or live rock whose fishing for, possession, or sale is prohibited by a closed season, minimum size, or bag limit as specified in subtitle 5 of title 12, HRS, or administrative rules. (k) The license fee is $100, and the duplicate license fee is $10. [Eff 8/8/96; comp 8/27/21; am and comp 5/2/24] (Auth: HRS §§187A-3.5, 187A-5, 188-44, 188-68) (Imp: HRS §§187A-3.5, 187A-5, 188-44, 188- 68)