Our Team

Mahesh Cleveland

Senior Attorney

Mid-Pacific Office

maheshcleveland-800x600_0

Bar Admissions

HI

Mahesh Cleveland

Senior Attorney Mid-Pacific Office

Media Inquiries

Miranda Fox
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
mfox@earthjustice.org

Mahesh Cleveland is a senior attorney in Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office, based in Honolulu.

Media Inquiries

Miranda Fox
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
mfox@earthjustice.org

Bar Admissions

HI

Quoted in the News

August 28, 2026

KHON

Land Board considers new rules for Aquarium fish collection

“About half of them die within the first year of captivity, and in the wild they can live up to 40 years. So it’s really about keeping Hawaiʻi’s fish on Hawaiʻi’s reef for Hawaiʻi’s people.”
August 28, 2026

KITV

BLNR rejects proposal to resume commercial aquarium fish collection in West Hawaiʻi

“This decision recognizes the will of Hawaiʻi’s people. Again and again, communities have turned out at public meetings to oppose this trade.”

Latest Press Statements

Hawaiian yellow tang fish and coral reef seen below the ocean's surface off the island of Lānaʻi, Hawaii.
August 28, 2026

Hawai‘i Land Board Rejects Move To Reopen Commercial Aquarium Fish Collection

Decision marks a turning point in the long-running effort to protect Hawai‘i’s native reef fish from commercial capture and sale
October 27, 2025

Land Board Advances Plan to Re-Open Hawaiʻi Waters to Aquarium Pet Industry

Rulemaking decision follows the agency’s prior vote to ban reef fish collection and intense public opposition to the capture and sale of native reef wildlife
October 2, 2024

West Maui Community Rallies For Ocean Protections, Water Resources

State Department of Health holds public hearing on Lahaina Clean Water Act permit
An aquarium collector takes fish from a reef in Hawai`i.
August 28, 2024

Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Fails to Protect Coastal Reef Fish

Court opens door to fish collection permits for West Hawai‘i, subject to Land Board approval