These objectives aim to create a unique, transdisciplinary program that addresses the specific needs of tropical Pacific fisheries science and management.
- Incorporate education on all aspects of tropical fisheries science and management, focusing on elements that are relevant to Pacific Island communities and are largely absent from other graduate fisheries programs.
- Provide quantitative skills and understanding of nearshore reef to pelagic ecosystems for future researchers, managers, and government employees.
- Integrate scientific and quantitative methods, diverse knowledge systems, and multi-generational perspectives, focusing on community collaboration to support community-based fisheries solutions and participatory governance approaches.
- Create a nexus for tropical fisheries science, promoting collaboration between UH, local resource managers, and experts from other Pacific nations.
- Support workforce development and self-governance of natural resources in Pacific Island communities heavily reliant on marine resources. In particular, we would like to train local students for local jobs in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.
- Find solutions to the challenges of managing fisheries resources in the tropical Pacific region, particularly in the face of climate change, to ultimately improve outcomes that address declining fisheries stocks.
Student Learning Objectives (SLO)
Students participating in the program are expected to achieve the following upon graduation:
- Demonstrate (a) a core understanding of nearshore-to-offshore tropical fisheries in Hawaiian and Pacific Islands social-ecological systems and methods to achieve sustainable fishery management integrating diverse knowledge systems and multi-generational perspectives, and (b) comprehensive expertise in specific sub-disciplines.
- Understand different perspectives among sectors of fisheries, based on experiential learning.
- Engage with fisher communities with respect, reciprocity, humility, and adaptability, recognizing multiple knowledge systems and their roles in science, stewardship, and management.
- Students demonstrate an expertise in project management—including effectively handling logistics, analysis, and consistent communication of results to stakeholders—and an understanding of how to apply fisheries knowledge to decision making.