Preliminary Marine Spatial Planning for Future Aquaculture Development in the State of Hawaiʻi

Abstract

The State of Hawaiʻi has a rich history of aquaculture, and furthering its development has the potential to support local food production efforts. Since aquaculture development is often constrained by complex permitting processes and marine use conflicts, marine spatial planning (MSP) approaches offer a way to remediate these challenges by identifying suitable areas in advance. For this project, I conducted a MSP constraints analysis to identify suitable areas for future aquaculture development in the nearshore waters of the Main Hawaiian Islands. Using industry and navigation, natural resources, and national security considerations, a third of the study area was deemed suitable. Social cultural datasets did not fit the criteria to be included in the MSP model, which I further investigate through a literature review. The results of this study provides a baseline for aquaculture pre-planning in Hawaiʻi and identifies frameworks for improving the representation of social cultural dimensions in future MSP approaches.