Maui Nui Marine Resource Council Inc

Maui Nui Marine Resource Councilʻs goals are clean ocean water, healthy coral reefs, and an abundance of native fish for the islands of Maui County.

Celebrating 11 years, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is a respected Maui-based nonprofit organization recognized for our ability to work in partnership with the community toward our goals. Many problems facing Maui County's local reefs originate on land, which is why our projects and programs are community-based and work from mountains (mauka) to sea (makai).

We bring together a broad base of the community to work with us, including ocean-users (fishers, divers, snorkelers, swimmers, beach-goers and commercial operators), individuals, organizations, property owners, as well as local, state and national government.

Working with current scientific data and acting in concert with traditional Hawaiian values, we develop and implement effective, science-based solutions to challenging environmental problems.

Maui Nui Marine Resource Council has built many long-lasting, solid connections with local marine biologists, wildlife management experts, government agencies, local businesses, other nonprofits, volunteers and others.

We have a strong, all-volunteer board, who routinely donate their time, talent, and treasure, playing an integral part in achieving the goals of our Annual and Multi-Year Strategic Plans.

Our staff includes a full time Executive Director (volunteer), a full time General Manager, a full time Programs Manager, and a part-time Communications, Community Outreach and Development Manager.

Over 11 years, we have repeatedly demonstrated to grant makers, including State, County and Federal grant making agencies, that we are fiscally responsible and reliable. We have more than 40 regular volunteers, most of whom actively participate in your year-round ocean water quality monitoring program.

In 2010, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council brought sixteen of Hawai’i’s most widely recognized coral reef management experts, scientific researchers and community representatives to Maui to form the Maui Coral Recovery Team. We were responding to the well-documented decline of important reef sites on Maui over a period of 20 years. We knew that unless bold action was taken, Mauiʻs precious reef ecosystems could collapse. The creation of the Maui Coral Recovery Team was the first time such a large group of coral reef experts from throughout the State were brought together to share findings, data and recommendations about Mauiʻs reefs. Maui Coral Recovery Team members enthusiastically volunteered their time to participate in collaborative all-day workshops on Maui to assess the threats that negatively impact the health of Maui’s coral reefs.

This team set to work to develop a protection and restoration plan for Maui County’s reefs — a framework to guide local actions to improve reef health, water quality and native fish populations.

Over a period of years, from 2010 to 2012, the team met repeatedly and focused its considerable experience and knowledge to develop a science-based, results-driven recovery plan. They shared the plan with the community and scientific peers for their input and review.

The process concluded with the publication of the Maui Coral Recovery Plan, a comprehensive 101-page document that provides recommendations on priority recovery sites and restoration strategies, including cultural and traditional management and partner/community engagement.

In 2015, the Maui Coral Recovery Team authored the comprehensive report Maui’s Coral Reefs: Declining Trends 1993-2015 and presented it to the Maui County Council Infrastructure and Environmental Management Committee. The goal was to provide local lawmakers with information on the severity of the decline of Mauiʻs corals and fish populations and to encourage laws and funding to protect our near shore waters.

The Maui Coral Recovery Plan guides the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council in our work to restore healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and abundant native fish to the islands of Maui County. Since 2012, the Maui Coral Recovery Team has met annually to evaluate and guide the progress made on the Maui Coral Recovery Plan and to advise Maui Nui Marine Resource Council on additional actions that are needed to support the recovery of Mauiʻs coral reefs.

In 2015, to support the Maui Coral Recovery Planʻs stated goals for clean ocean water, we co-launched Hui O Ka Wai Ola (Association of Living Waters), a unique citizen-based ocean water quality testing program that delivers quality-assured data to the State of Hawaii Department of Health, and is distributed via the Department of Health to County and State agencies and the EPA. The program has grown steadily over the years. We currently test 39 locations along Mauiʻs south and west shorelines every three weeks with a team of 40 volunte