(BIVN) – A final Holomua Marine Initiative talk story session will be held in Waimea on Sunday, July 12th.
A team from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources will meet with the Hawaiʻi island community from noon to 3 p.m. at the Waimea Community Center (65-1260 Kawaihae Road) for a discussion on how to best manage the island’s marine resources.
According to the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and natural Resources, the talk story sessions represent the first of five phases in the Holomua Marine Initiative planning process.
From the Hawaiʻi DLNR:
The Holomua Marine Initiative hosted seven talk story sessions across Hawaiʻi Island in May, drawing a strong turnout of more than 400 residents. DLNR-DAR has organized this additional “Hana Hou” session in hopes of acquiring information and perspectives from key community groups and voices that were underrepresented in the original seven sessions.
Community concerns, priorities and input gathered during both the May sessions and the July 12 Waimea meeting will directly guide the Holomua process.
The talk story sessions are part of DLNR-DAR’s ongoing effort to expand the Holomua Marine Initiative, a program that ensures local and traditional knowledge directly guides marine resource management decisions. The initiative brings together fishers, cultural practitioners and other community representatives to form an Island Navigation Team that will work with a diverse group of experts and resource managers to collaboratively develop island-scale management actions supporting sustainable harvesting and healthy reefs.
“Each island is unique and we want to make sure this process respects that,” said West Hawai‘i Aquatic Biologist Chris Teague. “On Hawaiʻi Island, the coastline, the reefs and how people fish or otherwise interact with the ocean all vary from place to place. Holomua continues to prioritize transparency and collaboration to ensure healthy marine ecosystems that enable us to support livelihoods and feed our families.”
East Hawai‘i Aquatic Biologist Ryan Okano shared, “We are incredibly grateful for the strong community turnout during the Holomua launch on Hawai‘i Island. However, no one knows our fisheries better than the families who fish them – and many believe that their voices were underrepresented in our May sessions. This process only works if it truly reflects the community. We will not move forward until we have cast a wider net with our best effort to ensure our local fishers are actively guiding the way.”
The Hawaiʻi DLNR says all input gathered from the May and July sessions will be compiled and shared on the Holomua website.
