In the 1950s, investigators from the Hawaii's Division of Fish and Game conducted marine fauna surveys and found the Hawaiian ichthyofauna was dominated by herbivorous fishes, which they concluded were "a useless end in the food chain".
Unlike many Pacific islands, Hawaii lacked any fish from the Serranidae or Lutjanidae families, so to increase recreational and commercial food fishing opportunities, and fill a perceived 'vacant ecological niche', collections of 11 species of snappers and groupers were imported from Mexico, Kiribati, the Marquesas Islands, and Moorea, and introduced to Hawaii.
Only three species thrived, dominated by the bluestripe snapper, now occupying many of the Hawaiian Islands.

In the following years, fishers and ecologists raised concerns that the snapper would outcompete other fish for space and food, as well as prey upon them; scientific investigation has not found evidence to support these claims.
Snapper may be competitively dominant over native yellow-fin goatfish, Mulloidichthys vanicolensis, for sheltering space on the reef.
 This is likely only the case in situations where both are present in high densities.

A parasitic nematode, Spirocamallanus istiblenni, may have been introduced to Hawaiian waters when the fish were released.
The addition of this parasite may have affected native fishes, which may not have been subject to the species before the introduction of L. kasmira.

The species has also failed to become important as a food fish and commercial resource for the islands because of low market prices.
 Since it competes with more commercially valuable fish, most fishers view it as a pest.
Since 2008, Hawaii has conducted a series of spearfishing contests that targeted bluestripes, along with blue-spotted groupers and black tail snappers with the intent of removing these fish from Hawaiian waters.
In the 1950s, investigators from the Hawaii's Division of Fish and Game conducted marine fauna surveys and found the Hawaiian ichthyofauna was dominated by herbivorous fishes, which they concluded were "a useless end in the food chain". Unlike many Pacific islands, Hawaii lacked any fish from the Serranidae or Lutjanidae families, so to increase recreational and commercial food fishing opportunities, and fill a perceived 'vacant ecological niche', collections of 11 species of snappers and groupers were imported from Mexico, Kiribati, the Marquesas Islands, and Moorea, and introduced to Hawaii. Only three species thrived, dominated by the bluestripe snapper, now occupying many of the Hawaiian Islands.
In the following years, fishers and ecologists raised concerns that the snapper would outcompete other fish for space and food, as well as prey upon them; scientific investigation has not found evidence to support these claims. Snapper may be competitively dominant over native yellow-fin goatfish, Mulloidichthys vanicolensis, for sheltering space on the reef.  This is likely only the case in situations where both are present in high densities.
A parasitic nematode, Spirocamallanus istiblenni, may have been introduced to Hawaiian waters when the fish were released. The addition of this parasite may have affected native fishes, which may not have been subject to the species before the introduction of L. kasmira.
The species has also failed to become important as a food fish and commercial resource for the islands because of low market prices.  Since it competes with more commercially valuable fish, most fishers view it as a pest. Since 2008, Hawaii has conducted a series of spearfishing contests that targeted bluestripes, along with blue-spotted groupers and black tail snappers with the intent of removing these fish from Hawaiian waters.
Bluestripe snapper