Hawaii Aquaculture Development: Twenty-Five Years and Counting, Lessons Learned

Abstract

In 1979, Hawaii was the first state to prepare a comprehensive aquaculture development plan. This was three years after the watershed Kyoto Conference that brought into sharp focus the global potential of aquaculture, and its publication instigated a long-term commitment by the state government to make water farming a major contributor to Hawaii’s economy. Since then, the efforts by the public sector to develop the industry have been many and diverse, achieving varying degrees of influence and success. This paper briefly describes the context for these efforts, highlights the government’s growing experiences in organization and management of the sector, and ends by sharing some important lessons.