CONCUR conducted a one-day workshop in Honolulu, Hawaii focused on effective community participation in Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning efforts. The August 2011 workshop was presented by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, one of eight regional fishery management councils tasked with developing management plans to govern fishing activity in U.S. waters.

In planning and executing the workshop, CONCUR drew on its extensive experience facilitating and structuring Coastal Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) efforts with fishing and indigenous communities in California and on the East Coast.

CMSP is one of the nine strategic actions in the National Ocean Policy established by President Obama with an executive order in 2010, and is an effective approach to address the conflicts among the existing and future uses of the coastal and marine environment. With WPRFMC’s goal of supporting local input into CMSP efforts, this workshop highlighted the critical role of negotiation. Also emphasized was the essential need to articulate interests, and mobilize data and information for effective planning.

The study area for the workshop was the offshore site of Penguin Bank—a prized fishing ground for fishermen from Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Lanai—and brought together approximately 40 fisherman, indigenous community members, and council staff participated in the workshop.