Why, after four decades, is Hawai‘i set to get a Marine Affairs Coordinator?
To little fanfare, Governor Josh Green signed Senate Bill 2907 into law as Act 186 on July 6, 2026. It re-establishes the position of a statewide Marine Affairs Coordinator, creates the Office of Marine Affairs, and declares that the entire State of Hawai‘i is an ‘ocean cluster.’
Hawai‘i’s new status as an ocean cluster sounds like a shiny new toy manifested by the stroke of a pen. A cluster, according to the letter of state law, is “a globally unique hub for ocean- and aquatic-centered culture, stewardship, economic opportunity, and innovation.”
Designating Hawai‘i in such terms, however, is seen as the natural next step for coordinating industries organized around what is known as the ‘blue economy.’ Whether the State of Hawai‘i can live up to this newfound responsibility is an open question.
Between the coordinator, the office, and the declaration, it’s worth interrogating what it all really means. Laws are not just pieces of paper. They are plans for the future laden with obligation.
What’s a Blue Economy?
Let’s break down the new law quickly.
According to the letter of the bill, a ‘blue economy’ equates to “industrial and economic activities that sustainably use ocean- and aquatic-related resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and job creation while preserving the health of oceanic and aquatic ecosystems.”
Such activities, the now-law goes on to explain, include industries “such as marine construction, ship and boat building, marine transportation, energy, tourism and recreation, fisheries and fishery-related businesses, aquaculture, marine biotechnology, ocean and coastal management, and conservation.”
These industries already exist in the Islands, but the state argues that greater coordination across agencies can lead to more innovation in these sectors. That’s where the designation of a cluster becomes a largely logistical, if not quiet, measure of great symbolism. Whether it translates into a renewed sense of ocean-based economic innovation is another matter.
Amidst all this talk of economic innovation and a growing international blue economy, it’s worth recalling that ocean-based economic innovation is not a new concept in Hawai‘i. In fact, it has often been an all-too-alluring concept whose grandiose promises sometimes outrun reality.
The Last Marine Affairs Coordinator
Following the first decade of statehood, Hawai‘i second Governor, John A. Burns, grew interested in the concept of building an ocean-based economy for Hawai‘i. The idea was so appealing that Burns signed legislation to create the Marine Affairs Coordinator position on June 22, 1970.
The Marine Affairs Coordinator would not report to any department. Instead, they reported directly to the governor.
“The marine environment is one of Hawai‘i's most valuable assets,” the 1970 law declared. “It has shaped the uniqueness of the way of life in Hawai‘i, and it has contributed to the major elements of the State's economy.” Such language could’ve been couched into the law signed by Governor Green less than a few weeks ago.
As the 1970 law further declares, “Hawai‘i can secure even greater benefits from the judicious use of the resources in and around the sea if it energetically coordinates the development of technology needed to exploit these resources, the promotion of marine businesses, and the establishment of programs dedicated to a better understanding and knowledge of the marine environment.”
The emergence of a marine economy was grandiose and futuristic. It was also tangible, with the assistance of Dr. John Craven. It looked like the position had been specifically created for Craven, a visionary thinker who concurrently served as the Dean of the Marine Programs at the University of Hawai‘i while working with the State.
Craven’s ideas could be zany. For instance, he called for the creation of floating cities off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands as a measure to prevent urban sprawl. It was a bold idea, and it still is. As Craven told one reporter in 1976, “the ability of the [floating] city to move to new environments in the event of ecological accident, the elimination of the automobile, the ease of access to goods, services, recreation and community activities, the ability to collect and process wastes, et cetera, should make the city essentially pollution free.”
Craven unsuccessfully sought election to the U.S. House of Representatives, taking a brief break from the position in 1976. He thereafter returned to the position. Despite his efforts, the direct importance of the position was unclear to lawmakers concerned with the fiscal impact of his ideas on Hawai‘i’s general welfare.
In 1982, the Marine Affairs Coordinator’s position was abolished by Governor Ariyoshi, and its functions were transferred to the Department of Planning and Economic Development (the precursor the present-day DBEDT). Kent Keith, a law student who was inspired by many of Craven’s ideas, later served as that department’s director under Governor George Ariyoshi.
However, the significance of Craven’s ideas as a central part of DBEDT’s planning declined over the following decades. While pockets of ocean-based innovation were certainly stewarded by entities like the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant program, the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority, and several of the industries that were ultimately stewarded by NELHA. The state’s centralizing influence over marine affairs evaporated.
The challenges ahead
The measure to re-establish the Marine Affairs Coordinator largely sailed under the radar during the 2026 legislative session. With the ’70s as a source of inspiration, Hawai‘i appears to be heading back towards a new variety of the future.
At the measure’s first hearing, the statewide Office of Planning and Sustainable Development (OPSD) noted that the measure was poised to directly align with the Hawaiʻi State Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy.
This dry document is a largely overlooked formality that must be filed in order for state and local entities to receive funding opportunities from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). Nevertheless, it had in fact directly called for the creation of a “statewide blue ocean economy cluster.”
Designating Hawai‘i as a blue ocean economy, as the law does, could drive state officials to attract more economic investment in ocean-based activities. One oft-quoted report from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that the ‘blue economy’ contributed $511 billion in revenue to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.
Internationally, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a critical proponent of the concept of economic ‘clusters,’ or nodes of economic opportunity, that are based around ocean-based activities. Their estimates suggest that such clusters, on a global scale, resulted in $2.6 trillion dollars of economic activity in 2020.
By the end of the session, the Governor’s office was asking to have the position of a marine affairs coordinator be instead nestled under the Hawai‘i Technology and Development Corporation (HTDC). That is where it is now poised to be located, although Senate Bill 2907 does not come with any set appropriation for the position.
The Marine Affairs Coordinator’s salary is also not named in the bill (a salary of $150,000 was removed early on in the 2026 legislative session). Nor is the support staff that will be provided to effect the law’s intent. Clarity will likely be sought in future legislative sessions; the intent of this law will be subject to new experiments and gradual modification. Democratic ideas, after all, are subject to revision.
Department and agencies like the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB), the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC), the HDTC, the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority (NELHA), and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ultimately backed the proposal.
Other supporters included business and research organizations involved in ocean-related industries, like the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research (PICHTR) and many of the industries based out of NELHA’s Hawai‘i Ocean Science and Technology Park on the Kona side of Hawai‘i Island. The Chamber of Commerce was on board, too.
Everyone is on board with the promise of the blue economy.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water on earth. It literally surrounds the Hawaiian Archipelago. That’s what makes the prospect of a blue ocean economy so alluring — and so potentially dangerous. Hawai‘i can easily fall for big ideas, as it did with Craven. Hawai‘i has done it on too many occasions. Grand declarations underwritten by pens and rhetoric come with grand physical responsibilities.
In the short term, the newly established Office of Marine Affairs at HTDC should begin to quantify the true scale of the blue economy in Hawai‘i and where existing economic barriers prevent innovation.
It’s especially poignant as Hawai‘i is ranked as the worst state to do business in the entire United States. Innovation requires a willingness to attract business, not squash it.
The Pacific Ocean is a great big place. There’s a lot of innovation to be gotten. But to capture such innovation, Hawai‘i must first take itself to account. With the bill’s passage into law, the easy part is over. The real work must start soon enough.
Perry Arrasmith can be reached at hello@perryarrasmith.com.
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