Hawai‘i is putting a formal ocean point person back in the game. On July 6, 2026, Governor Josh Green signed legislation that re-establishes a statewide Marine Affairs Coordinator and creates an Office of Marine Affairs to centralize the state’s blue-economy work. The new office will sit administratively inside the Hawai‘i Technology Development Corporation and be overseen by a Marine Affairs Governing Board drawn from state agencies, the University of Hawai‘i and ocean-industry stakeholders. The move revives a coordinator post first created in 1970 and discontinued in the early 1980s, returning a visible state-level advocate for ocean policy and innovation.
“It’s difficult to articulate just how important the ocean is to our people,” Gov. Josh Green said as he hailed the bill’s goals. In a state news release, the Office of the Governor described SB 2907, now Act 186, as a step to centralize marine affairs oversight and formally designate the state as an “ocean cluster,” the Office of the Governor said.
The enrolled bill lays out the Office’s duties, from crafting a statewide marine strategy and promoting marine technology, aquaculture and coastal resilience to coordinating federal and private funding, and sets a governing board that includes the chair of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Department of Agriculture, the Harbors Division, the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority, HTDC, the Agribusiness Development Corporation, the state energy office, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and University of Hawai‘i representatives, as detailed in the bill text on LegiScan. It also transfers the functions of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Marine Affairs into the new office and requires annual reports to the governor and Legislature.
Early versions of the measure included a specific appropriation, and at one point a $150,000 figure appeared in committee files, but conferees removed that dollar amount and left the appropriation unspecified while making the coordinator's salary subject to the governor’s authority, according to committee records. The committee also urged lawmakers to consider aligning the coordinator’s pay with University of Hawai‘i marine leadership or creating a jointly funded appointment, signaling an ongoing debate about long-term funding. The Hawaii State Legislature report outlines those changes.
Why the push now
Supporters say the move is about economic diversification and resilience. Federal data show the U.S. marine economy contributed $511 billion to GDP in 2023 and supported 2.6 million jobs, and OECD analysis pegs the global ocean economy at roughly $2.6 trillion in 2020. Honolulu leaders argue a centralized office will help the islands capture more of that market. NOAA and the OECD provide the underlying data.
Who's backing it and where it will live
Ocean-technology firms, research groups and several state stakeholders filed written testimony in support of SB 2907, and organizations including Pacific Impact Zone and Makai Ocean Engineering appear in the legislative record as backers. The governor and sponsors say the Office will be administered by HTDC for administrative purposes, with staffing and payroll handled through that corporation as the office ramps up, according to testimony from Pacific Impact Zone.
A brief history
The Marine Affairs Coordinator role dates to a 1970 "Hawaii and the Sea" plan. John P. Craven was appointed the state's first coordinator while also serving as dean of UH marine programs and helped launch early ocean initiatives such as NELHA and undersea research efforts. The coordinating statute was repealed in 1982 and the coordinator's duties were folded into economic and planning departments until now, according to university records. UH SOEST traces that arc.
What’s next
With Act 186 in place, the immediate test will be whether the governor and HTDC can identify funding and quickly appoint a coordinator. The law left the dollar amount blank and set the salary rule to be handled by the governor, so administrative follow-through is required. Ocean businesses, researchers and Native Hawaiian organizations will watch whether the office actually streamlines permitting, attracts federal grants and channels investment to local projects. Aloha State Daily reported on the bill’s passage and early reactions.
