Community youth engagement in Miloli'i marine management

Fund a three-year project to engage community youth in marine resource management in Miloli'i, South Kona, in partnership with the Miloli'i Charter School. Miloli'i is widely known across the State of Hawaii as one of the last remaining fishing villages where Hawaiian families practice traditional marine stewardship based on centuries of cultural practice. In 2022, the Miloli'i community secured designation from the State of Hawaii as a Community-based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA), built on decades of work with the community and State to promote native Hawaiian marine resource management, including engaging community youth in learning about and practicing traditional Hawaii stewardship. In May of 2026, the community, through the local non-profit Kalanihale, received approval from the State of Hawaii Charter School Commission to establish the Miloli'i Charter School (MCS). Through the project, the students of the MCS will deeply engage in the management of marine resources in the Miloli'i CBSFA, serving as a critical part of the Miloli'i community's work to steward and restore the marine resources of Miloli'i. School instruction will include active participation in marine monitoring, stewardship and the practice and revitalization of Milolii's traditional Hawaiian fishing culture. The school and the project will play an essential role in developing the next generation of Hawaiian leaders in marine and coastal conservation and traditional Hawaiian cultural practice, specifically to perpetuate the effective management of the Miloli'i CBSFA. The project requires $250,000 annually for three years.