The University of Hawaiʻi (UH) has launched a new sustainable fisheries initiative to conduct research and train up a new generation of leaders who can steward fisheries around the islands and in the surrounding Pacific Ocean.
As part of the initiative, the university has brought on 8 new faculty members with expertise in oceanography, economic, Indigenous coastal management, and other fisheries-related specialties. The faculty will be spread out across six schools and colleges, but they’ll work together to develop a graduate program focused on sustainable fisheries management and advancing research on island-ocean systems, UH said in a release.
“It is critically important to elevate and co-develop knowledge relevant to the Pacific, foster local expertise, and train the next generation of fisheries stewards and managers,” Megan Donahue, the director of the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), said in a release. “The new faculty members in this cohort each bring unique perspectives and talent to the complexities we face here. In addition to their contributions to advancing research and sustainable management of Pacific fisheries, they will be a vital part of developing a fisheries graduate training program.”
According to the university’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, management strategies used for coastal fisheries along the continental U.S. often fail when applied to the fisheries around the Hawaiian Islands due to their different natures. While many U.S. fisheries are designed for cold water and industrial harvesting, the Hawaiian fisheries are located in warm tropical waters with Indigenous fishers and a larger diversity of species, the school said in its release.
The UH initiative will look to rectify that issue by training graduates on the unique challenges facing Hawaiian and Pacific fisheries and increasing local research capacity.
“It's exciting to be creating a Pacific Island-serving research and education program that will develop our local talent,” NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Director Charles Littnan said in a statement. “By creating a nexus of tropical fisheries study, the program will promote collaborative efforts between UH, local resource managers, and experts from other nations around the Pacific rim.”
