Unlawful with regard to policy is a matter of interpretation and political will. Hiding behind a technicality is a legal tool, often used to leverage political priority. The law of the splintered paddle represents host culture values that are again incidental to "state of" enforcement or prior cases. Prior to the current Supreme Court case against DLNR for issuing aquarium collector permits with no environmental assessment, DLNR/TNC Director Suzanne Case said, "That's been litigated!" And so it was in the first court and again in the Court of Appeals. Then it went up to the Supreme Court for re-litigation. Precedence does not preclude appeal or further effort to do the right thing.