Goals: Goals: (1) Review risks of pest/invasive species entry into the State; and (2) implement measures and improve Hawaii’s capacity to prevent the entry of new pests/invasive species with shared resources and shared responsibilities of all agencies.

Preventing the introduction of alien invasive species is the cheapest, most effective and most preferred option and is a high priority. The prevention working group is chaired by Department of Agriculture (DOA) staff. DOA is the only state agency with responsibilities to prevent introductions at ports and airports.

Prevention objectives:

• Identify and seek to manage possible vectors and pathways of terrestrial and aquatic invasive species into and throughout Hawaii. Important pathways for introductions include: legal and illegal national and international trade, tourism, shipping, ballast water, fisheries, agriculture, construction projects, ground and air transport, forestry, horticulture, landscaping, pet trade and aquaculture.
• Prevent the movement of known invasive species between islands.
• Identify terrestrial and aquatic species that are at high risk of being introduced to the State or being spread within the State.
• Minimize aquatic invasive species introductions focusing on the highest risk pathways e.g. hull fouling.
• Put in place legal controls and a risk assessment system for intentional introductions. These should only take place with authorization from the relevant agency or authority. Authorization should require comprehensive evaluations based on economic, human health, standard of living and biodiversity considerations (ecosystem, species, genome).
• Review the structure of fines and penalties to ensure maximum deterrence for invasive species-related crimes.
• Support county-sponsored activities to address invasive species (HRS 194-2(a) 12).
• Incorporate and expand upon the Department of Agriculture's weed risk assessment protocol to the extent appropriate for the council's invasive species prevention, control and eradication efforts HRS 194-2 (a) (16)
• Develop collaborative industry guidelines and codes of conduct, which minimize or eliminate unintentional introductions.
• Develop a comprehensive "approved planting list" to ensure that invasive species are not being planted in State projects or by any state contractors e.g. screened by the weed risk assessment protocol.
• Coordinate and promote the State's position with respect to federal issues, including:

Quarantine preemption;

• International trade agreements that ignore the problem of invasive species in Hawaii;
• First class mail inspection prohibition;
• Whether quarantine of domestic pests arriving from the mainland should be provided by the federal government;
• Coordinating efforts with federal agencies to maximize resources and reduce or eliminate system gaps and leaks, including deputizing the United States Department of Agriculture's plant protection and quarantine inspectors to enforce Hawaii's laws;
• Promoting the amendment of federal laws as necessary, including the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981, Title 16 United States Code sections 3371-3378; Public Law 97-79, and laws related to inspection of domestic airline passengers, baggage, and cargo.

Prevention - Measures of Effectiveness

• Number of new invasive species detected at ports of entry
• Current measures in place to prevent invasive species arrival and establishment
• Names and numbers of priority pests threatening Hawaii.
• Current status of priority pests for which there is an established prevention program.