HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	59
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of agriculture to develop a certification process for hunters to become certified inspectors in order to inspect their own game for sale.

 

 

 

        WHEREAS, in 1867, India gifted eight axis deer to King Kamehameha V, who then introduced the population to Molokai; and

 

        WHEREAS, with no natural predators and an ample food supply, the non-native species has thrived over the past fifteen decades; and

 

        WHEREAS, it is estimated that there are forty thousand to sixty thousand axis deer on Molokai and thirty thousand to fifty thousand on Maui; and

 

        WHEREAS, as an invasive species, axis deer are environmentally destructive and cause millions of dollars worth of damage each year; and

 

        WHEREAS, axis deer threaten native forests in natural areas, damage agricultural crops and native and ornamental vegetation through browse and bark stripping, cause erosion, and are often the cause of traffic accidents; and

 

        WHEREAS, to address the negative impacts of the axis deer, many individuals began hunting axis deer, which has since become a significant part of hunting culture on Maui; and

 

        WHEREAS, despite many individuals legally hunting axis deer, selling the meat has proven to be time-consuming; and

 

        WHEREAS, in order to sell axis deer meat, the meat must first be inspected by a United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service inspector; however, there are only twenty Food Safety Inspection Service employees in the State; and

 

        WHEREAS, the State previously had its own meat inspection program, but it was discontinued in the mid-1990s due to cuts in budget and staffing, and since then, the federal Food Safety Inspection Service assumed full responsibility for these obligations in the State; and

 

        WHEREAS, due to the overpopulation of the axis deer, it is no longer realistic to wait for a Food Safety Inspection Service inspector to travel from island to island; and

 

        WHEREAS, providing hunters the opportunity to become certified inspectors will expedite the inspection process, thereby ensuring the quality and safety of the meat, while also addressing the overpopulation of axis deer in the State; now, therefore,

 

        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the United State Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, is requested to develop a certification process for hunters to become certified inspectors in order to inspect their own game for sale; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture and Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:  

Hunting; Axis Deer; Meat Sales; Inspection