The Holomua Marine Initiative (HMI) was created to manage the state’s nearshore marine environment using a unique community-based approach. HMI is managed by the state of Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. The program is funded in part with federal and state funds, though more than half of the funding is provided through private donations.

In October 2022, HMI was launched with a pilot program on Maui. Multiple community meetings were held throughout the island, and a committee was formed to begin work on the first draft of a plan for Maui to propose goals, solutions and actions. Unfortunately, yet understandably, the Maui wildfires have put this plan on an indefinite hold. However, every day this program is kept on hold contributes to the loss of the number, size and biodiversity of fish and other marine organisms in the waters that surround our islands.

The approach HMI is using is innovative and uses place-based planning, pono practices, monitoring and restoration as the foundations of this program. Marine Management Areas (MMAs) are to be set up for each island, with the goal of 30% of coastline to be within an MMA by 2030 (today that figure is about 6%).

Goals and proposed solutions and actions are created for each island by volunteer community members of that island who are chosen by their fellow community members.

Those priorities and proposals are required to adhere to two sets of principles that DAR has identified: ecological design principles and socio-cultural principles.

The ecological design principles define the resource priorities that are to be considered when making plans for each MMA. These include priorities that focus resources to create the most successful MMAs, that require collaboration with adjoining land-based partners (e.g., “mauka to makai”), that determine the location, size, and shape of each MMA, and require planning documents that provide for transparency, evaluation and adaptation.

The socio-cultural principles require that plans consider and recognize the importance of place-based knowledge and education, of the nearshore environment’s importance to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of indigenous Native Hawaiian people, the need to limit visitor impacts and to maintain resources that provide food, and the importance of community engagement and equitable governance.

DAR should not delay the HMI program any longer. If it is not possible to restart the program on Maui right away, it should be initiated on another island as soon as possible.

Tragically, the Maui fires have shown that in addition to climate change, global warming, invasive species and pollution from land, our nearshore marine environments can face yet another danger: toxic runoff and sediment from fires.

We must keep the process moving forward if we hope to protect the beaches, coral reefs, estuaries, fishponds and bays of our unique island home.

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For more on the Holomua Marine Initiative, visit dlnr.hawaii.gov/holomua/.