The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) marine ecosystem is a 1,200-mile-long chain of islands, atolls, and coral reefs that contains approximately 70% of the reefs found in United States waters. This relatively pristine area – located hundreds of miles from Kauai, Hawaii’s northernmost inhabited island -- has more endemic fish and invertebrates than nearly any coral reef ecosystem in the world, and also boasts breeding populations of endangered Hawaiian monk seals, sea turtles, and albatrosses. To protect this national treasure, in 2000 President Clinton took the important first step of creating the NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, and in 2006 President Bush designated the area a National Monument. This created the world’s largest marine conservation area, banning fishing within as of 2011, and restricting human access.

In the Reserve’s first years, the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science (then known as the Pew Institute for Ocean Science) provided generous support to Dr. Bruce Wilcox of the University of Hawaii to compile information needed to create an ecosystem-based management (EBM) plan for the zone. At the time, science-based management policy research for these ecosystems in the Hawaiian Islands was seriously lacking, but was sorely needed to guide activities within the new Reserve. Dr. Wilcox documented existing and proposed commercial fishing activities in the Reserve and their possible ecological impacts, and identified appropriate mechanisms for integrating traditional ecological knowledge into the Reserve’s management. He also provided an historical analysis of fisheries resource management in the islands, documenting past mistakes and describing how EBM for coral reef ecosystem protection and sustainable fisheries should be approached for the future.

The initial IOCS project has grown considerably in size and scope since its inception. Achievements so far include creation of a research and research training enterprise that now involves more than 15 scientists, an analysis of the NWHI management planning process and recommendations, and a first-of-its-kind study of a Native Hawaiian community documenting the historical shift in diet that coincided with the decline of local fisheries. Two other projects are nearing completion: the first assessment of the condition of coral reefs in the Hawaiian Archipelago using an historical ecology approach; and, a meta-analysis of the connection between the health of reef ecosystems and that of indigenous Pacific Islander communities. The work is now largely supported by a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to support integrative research linking ecological and health sciences in the Hawaii-Pacific region.