Frequently Asked Questions
There was a need to assess and track the health of Hawai‘i’s natural environment and chart a path forward to increase economic opportunities and human wellbeing while sustainably managing these critical resources.
We developed shared metrics for measuring progress toward sustainable economic growth and ocean health through:
Enable the State of Hawai‘i, community stakeholders, the corporate and finance sectors and non-profit organizations to prioritize investments and policy decisions that affect the sustainability of Hawai‘i’s economic and ocean health.
The first assessment, the Hawai‘i 2018 Ocean Health Index, was released June 8th on World Oceans Day. Repeat assessments will be done to track our progress towards meeting our ocean sustainability goals.
Yes. All data layers are available on this website. And, many of the data layers are already publicly available datasets housed on geoportal.Hawai‘i.gov and pacioos.Hawai‘i.edu/data.
The first assessment was completed June 8th, 2018. This first assessment serves as our baseline for future assessments. The most recent data available was incorporated into the assessment for each goal, and we rely on data that will continue to be updated in the future.
OHI assessments can be updated annually or on other management time frames with less effort than its initial development. This is because all analysis is done with open source collaborative software and can be updated with the most recent data. This is because all analysis is done with open source collaborative software (R, RStudio, Git, GitHub) and can be updated with the most recent data. The Hawai‘i OHI will continue as long as there is ongoing interest and support from ocean management agencies and stakeholders.
Scores for each goal represent the present status for each goal measured against a set reference point (50% of the score) and the likely future status of the goal (50% of the score). Likely future status is assessed based on the status trend (status score over the last 5 years), resilience actions (policies, initiatives, habitat protection, enforcement, local stewardship, etc), and cumulative pressures (human impacts to ocean habitats, pollution, social pressures, economic indicators, etc).
Goals are developed with stakeholders and experts. Reference points are specific to each goal and can be temporal reference point, a spatial reference point, established targets (management targets, policies or mandates, or established goal), or production function or established model (example: maximum sustainable yield equation). Goal reference points are set use SMART principles to set reference points that are specific, measurable, agreed upon and ambitious, realistic, and time-bound.
Goal scores respond to management targets through interactions with resilience layers. Some of the goals have management targets as set reference points and so those goals will directly change as we approach those targets.
The OHI incorporates diverse stakeholders to create a coalition for ocean health. The index will work to incorporate management and local stewardship actions to incentivize actions across private partners, agencies, managers, and policy makers to increase sustainable ocean use and ultimately ocean health.
The Hawai‘i Statewide assessment will focus on the Main Hawaiian Islands and will be at the Island scale. Regions will be Hawai‘i, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Oahu, and Kauai. The island scale is used to designate districts of Hawai‘i, which are used in policy and management for the State of Hawai‘i.
To produce the spatial boundaries of these reporting units we use the Hawai‘i USA Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). A nearshore spatial scale computed as the offshore 3nm boundary for Hawai‘i islands to be used in some goals. The OHI focus is on the entire EEZ, which is divided into each of the six reporting sub-regions. However, some goals are assessed on the nearshore (3 nm from shore and 1km coastal terrestrial zone).
| Goal | Sub-Goal | Spatial Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Food Provision | Offshore Fisheries | EEZ |
| Mariculture | Nearshore | |
| Nearshore Fisheries | Nearshore | |
| Coastal Protection | Nearshore | |
| Coastal Livelihoods & Economies | Livelihoods | EEZ |
| Economies | EEZ | |
| Sustainable Tourism | Nearshore | |
| Sense of Place | Nearshore | |
| Biodiversity | Species | EEZ |
| Habitats | Nearshore |
Management strategies can be tested with the OHI to understand cross sector impacts and benefits. The OHI is a conceptual model to better understand across sector ocean health. It is designed to provide context for management decisions and incentivize actions that support sustainable ocean use. The OHI can be utilized to set management targets or specific goal reference points that are ambitious yet achievable. The OHI can then be used to communicate how achieving these targets will support ocean health in Hawai‘i.
The OHI is very adaptable and can incorporate new management targets, policies, and new scientific research. This information is generally incorporated into pressure or resilience scores for each goal. For example, new research on the impacts of marine debris can be incorporated as a more precise pressure layer for clean water and tourism goals. If goal metrics and reference points are updated then the goal score not be comparable to prior assessments. However, previous assessments can be back-calculated using the updated methods to make them comparable to track progress. Updating goal metrics and reference points will be done in future assessments if there is consensus to do so and updating the goal will increase our understanding of sustainable ocean use and ocean health.
Currently Papahanaumokuakea is not incorporated into the Main Hawaiian OHI. Papahanaumokuakea will be referenced in the OHI report, however the Hawai‘i OHI scale is set at the county level to be used as a tool for managing human and environmental interactions within the Main Hawaiian Islands.
Once each goal weight is established the goal weight will remain constant unless there is a consensus from working groups and stakeholders to change goal weighting.