Open Ocean Mariculture

Open Ocean Mariculture

State Submerged Lands extend three miles out from the shoreline; mariculture operations in this area require a Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) and Management Plan approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources.  OCCL is actively working to develop a consistent set of management, reporting, and permit criteria that can be applied state wide.   The following agencies have current permits for facilities in Hawaiian waters:

Blue Ocean Mariculture  (CDUP HA-3720Blue Ocean Reporting Plan) – located offshore of Unualoha Point, North Kona, Hawaiʻi. The permit allows for eight pens totaling no more than 72, 000 cubic meters, and the cultivation of kāhala (almaco jack, Seriola rivoliana and amberjack, S. dumerili), mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), ulua (giant trevally, Caranx ignobilis), and moi (Pacific threadfin, Polydactylus sexifilis). The only species currently cultivated in the ocean pens is S. rivoliana. The permit holder anticipates stocking moi in the near future.  (see also CDUP HA 3497)

Māmāla Bay Seafood (CDUP 3719; Māmāla Bay Reporting Plan) – located in the Reef Runway Borrow Pit at Keʻehi Lagoon, Honolulu, Oʻahu, TMK (1) 1-1-003:005. The permit allows for ten semi-submerged cages to raise moi (Pacific threadfin, Polydactylus sexifilis). The permit holder is currently in lease negotiations for the site. 

A third company, Kona Blue Water Farms, operates outside of the State’s three-mile boundary, in waters under federal jurisdiction.