Please join us for final presentations from our 2024-2026 E. Gordon Grau Coastal and Marine Resource Management and Policy Fellows, Kaleohano Farrant and Lauryn Hansen! Thursday, July 30th, 2026 8:45 - 10:00 AM At the Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics (HIG) ...

 Research Projects 2026-2028 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Craig Nelson Co-INVESTIGATORS: Ann Nyambega, Kirsten Oleson Graduate fellow: Kacie Kajihara Research Track: Island Sustainability and Resilience Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer adaptive, cost-effective strategies by leveraging natural processes, but their foundational roots lie in the ...

In this episode we’re talking about village life in American Samoa. We talk with the mayor of Amouli Village about Samoan village traditions, and we attend a village meeting where climate change and fishing pressures are changing how locals manage ...

 Research Projects 2026-2028 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Aimee Sato Co-INVESTIGATOR: Yoshimi Rii Graduate fellow: Jasmine Reighard Research Track: Aquaculture The invasive upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea spp.) poses a major threat to the restoration and productivity of loko iʻa (traditional Hawaiian fishponds), necessitating extensive ...

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: ROBERT TOONEN Graduate Student: Johanna Wren The exchange of individuals among populations, termed connectivity, is a central element of population persistence and maintenance of genetic diversity, and influences most ecological and evolutionary phenomena. To date, field studies of ...

 Research Projects 2024-2026 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Lisa McManus Co-INVESTIGATORS: Elizabeth Madin, Yoshimi Rii, Kawika Winter, Anne Innes-Gold Research Track: Aquaculture Loko i‘a (traditional Hawaiian fishponds) once played a large role in an integrated agroecology system. Historically, loko i‘a were used to ...

 Research Projects 2016-2018 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Brian Bowen Co-INVESTIGATOR: Stephan Karl Graduate Fellow: Derek Kraft The proposed research will track fish from egg production to the reefs where they settle and enter local fisheries on Oʻahu and adjacent islands. To promote sustainable use of ...

 Research Projects 2024-2026 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Robert Toonen Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Nākoa Goo Research Track: Aquaculture Hawaiian fishponds, or loko iʻa, are generally considered the most advanced of ancient aquaculture systems. By mimicking and enhancing ordinary processes, a strategy called ...

 Research Projects 2018-2020 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Kiana Frank Sedimentation has been identified as one of the top five challenges for restoration faced by fishpond stewards. It is not clear what the most effective (and cheap) mechanisms are for removing such large ...

 Research Projects 2016-2018 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Robert Toonen Graduate Fellow: Kaleonani Hurley Hawaiian fishponds, or loko iʻa, are ancient aquaculture systems that are models of sustainable aquatic resource management based on long-term experience from traditional Native Hawaiian practices. There is much ...

Click on the cover image to view the full issue. Welcome to our inaugural issue of the new Ka Pili Kai! Embracing knowledge from generations past and present: For our dedicated readers who have been receiving and reading our quarterly ...

We meet with elders from the island of Moorea, in French Polynesia. We learn about the Te Pu 'Atiti'a Center and how it is helping to perpetuate local knowledge and traditions. The elders tell us about changes to the ocean ...

September 5 Papahanaumokuakea: Bringing the Place to the People; is a community gathering celebrating Papahānaumokuakea - the Northwesten Hawaiian Islands and surrounding ocean, a place of profound cultural and ecological significance. What: Join us for an evening of food, storytelling, ...

 Research Projects 2018-2020 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Megan Donahue Co-INVESTIGATOR: Stephen Karl Graduate Fellows: Eileen Nalley, Julie Zill Pollutants, such as metals, pose a serious threat to coral reef ecosystems. In the past century Hawaiʻi has experienced significant changes in land use, ...

 Research Projects 2020-2022 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Megan Donahue Co-INVESTIGATORS: Kim Falinski Graduate Fellow: Honour Booth This research will examine land-based pollutants, such as metals and persistent organic pollutants (e.g., PCBs), in coastal ecosystems in Hawaiʻi. Ongoing habitat degradation and coastal development, along with ...

 Research Projects 2020-2022 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Rosanna Alegado Graduate Scholar: Becca Lensing The red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) was introduced to Molokaʻi in 1902 and has spread quickly across the main Hawaiian islands. Mangroves are critical to the health of environment where they ...

Topic: Waiʻanae Moku  Where nerds talk story @annaobrienshi | 1st Tues every month | 7 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm IN THIS SECTION Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Events ...

 Research Projects 2026-2028 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Elizabeth Madin Co-INVESTIGATOR: Annie Innes-Gold Graduate fellow: Andrew Petitt Research Track: Island Sustainability and Resilience This interdisciplinary project supports community-led efforts to establish a marine managed area (MMA) in Kailua Bay, Oʻahu, a region severely ...

THE PACIFIC CIGUATERA NETWORK This work is funded through a collaboration with PacIOOS by the NOAA National Harmful Algae Bloom Observing Network and the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System. WHO ARE WE? The Pacific Ciguatera Network brings partners together from ...

Loko Iʻa, Aquaculture, and Seafood  Location: Pacific Islands Ocean Exploration Center (Aloha Tower Marketplace center courtyard) with parking validation! When: September 17, 5:30-7:30pm Register here IN THIS SECTION Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Events ...

Meet Dr. Brian Bowen and Michael Hoban and learn about their project tracking important aquaculture fish species from egg production to the reefs where they settle and grow. Read more about their project here ...

Dr. Megan Donahue and Eileen Nalley look for traces of land-based, metallic pollutants in tissues of commonly eaten reef fishes and the mechanisms involved in their transport from land to fishes. Read more about their project here ...

Dr. Kiana Frank combines modern microbial biology with traditional fishpond management techniques to explore sediment removal from Hawaiian fishponds. Read more about her project here ...

← Return to previous page PICCH Fisheries Projects How are contaminants ending up in reef fish? Contaminants appear in coral reefs through runoff, sedimentation, submarine groundwater discharge, and other mechanisms. Once present, they build up in reef fish and other ...

← Return to previous page PICCH Fisheries Projects What does Life History Mean? Species can be described by a wide range of traits, including behavioral patterns (e.g., diurnal activity, schooling size, preferred temperature in water column); morphological body types (e.g., ...

 Research Projects 2020-2022 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Brian Bowen Graduate Fellow: Emily Conklin, Cassie Kaʻapu-Lyons As the demand for sea food continues to rise, wild stocks are dwindling or disappearing. Meanwhile, the supply of marine ornamental fishes for the aquarium trade faces similar ...

 Research Projects 2024-2026 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Andre Seale Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Reilly Merlo Research Track: Aquaculture Efforts to revitalize traditional Hawaiian fishponds aim to increase sustainable seafood generation and reduce Hawaiʻi’s reliance on importation. However, fish propagation has encountered challenges ...

by Lonny LippsettA fever is rising in the ocean. Our rampant burning of fossil fuels has produced a heat-trapping blanket of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere that has warmed the Earth. But the situation would be much worse without ...

by Keri Kodama One day, on the island of Oʻahu, the three ‘Io brothers were exploring an open market. There were colorful flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, and many more exciting things for sale. They could hardly decide what to ...

 Research Projects 2016-2018 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Andre Seale Many agricultural and industrial chemicals have demonstrated the capacity to disrupt the physiology of wildlife by impacting the endocrine system. These man-made substances, termed endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), cause immediate physiological effects or ...

 Introduction From December 2018 to April 2019, 15 retail grocery stores, one fish market, and nine restaurants in American Samoa were surveyed by Hawai‘i Sea Grant Extension Agent Kelley Anderson Tagarino and American Samoa Community College student interns Raijeli Toanivere, ...

In this episode, we’re learning about the translation of Hawaiian Language Newspapers from the 1800s and 1900s. We take a look at the University of Hawai‘i Institute for Hawaiian Language Research and Translation with Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier and his team, ...

 Research Projects 2026-2028 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Rachel Dacks Co-INVESTIGATORS: Kawika Winter, Sarah Woo Graduate fellow: Kammie Tavares Research Track: Island Sustainability and Resilience This project proposes a framework for integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems to inform sustainable coral reef fisheries ...

 Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Elizabeth Madin Co-INVESTIGATORS: Kirsten Oleson, Lisa McManus, Zack Rago Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Annie Innes-Gold Research Track: Interdisciplinary Nearshore fisheries provide extremely important services for coastal areas. However, nearly 25 percent of these fisheries, globally, ...