Our mission is to protect and restore Hawaiʻi's inland and nearshore ecosystems — from mountain streams and estuaries to nearshore coral reefs.

A ridge-to-reef approach to conservation

Recognized nationally in 2009, the Hawaiʻi FHP brings together government agencies, non-profits, local communities, and private landowners to tackle habitat degradation that no single organization could solve alone.

Tools for partners and landowners

Together with partners across the state, we're restoring the resources native species and communities depend on.

The partnership’s primary goal is to support abundant native species while preserving the cultural and subsistence connections native Hawaiians and all Hawaiʻi residents have with their aquatic resources. Through practical, on-the-ground projects, the Hawaiʻi FHP removes barriers to fish migration, controls invasive plants, improves water quality, and engages local students and volunteers in conservation work.

A diverse partnership

The Hawaiʻi FHP is composed of a diverse group of partners planning and implementing a technically sound aquatic habitat restoration program statewide, directing efforts toward streams, estuaries, anchialine pools, and adjacent nearshore marine habitats.

Landscape-scale restoration

The Hawaiʻi FHP is committed to implementing habitat restoration at the appropriate landscape scale to achieve real conservation benefits, coordinating funding from multiple sources.

National Support

Funding is coordinated in part through direct support from the National Fish Habitat Partnership. Visit fishhabitatfund.org to learn more about the national network.

Key threats to fish habitat in Hawaiʻi

Instream structures and barriers, including stream diversions, dams, channel alteration, and road crossings
Introduced aquatic invasive species
Urbanization resulting in polluted runoff, altered streamflows, and loss of freshwater and coastal marine/coral reef habitat
Suspended sediment input from agriculture, fallow plantation lands, and forest management

Poorly regulated harvesting of fish and invertebrates for consumption and retail sale
Recreational overuse, including trampling on reefs and other tourism-related impacts
Feral ungulate impacts, including trampling, uprooting, vegetation change, and soil erosion
In-stream flow requirements sufficient to protect biological integrity not yet established statewide

Hawaiʻi Fish Habitat Partnership projects

Featured Projects

Fish Passage Restoration — Waiheʻe Stream, Oʻahu

An abandoned water control structure was modified to re-establish native migratory fish and invertebrate populations, coordinated with the USFWS National Fish Passage Program alongside the Key Project, Hui O Koʻolaupoko, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, DLNR-DAR, and USGS.

Photo: Gordon Smith, USFWS

UH-Hawaiian Internship Program — Fisheries Technician Support

Through USFWS’s Fisheries Resources Division, the Hawaiʻi FHP hired a UH Hilo UH-HIP student to assist DLNR-DAR resource managers, surveying benthic substrate and algae as part of a statewide estuary fisheries survey.

Photo: Troy Sakura, DLNR-DAR

Hawaiʻi Statewide Fish Passage Barriers Inventory

A geographic database of migratory fish and invertebrate barriers is under development with the National Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative, drawing on field-verified data from Aquatic Connectivity Teams statewide.

Perched culverts form barriers to migratory fish upstream passage in many watersheds across the state of Hawaii. USFWS Photo Gordon Smith Photo: Gordon Smith, USFWS

By The Numbers

Our Impact

Projects Completed

40+

Stream Miles Restored

150+

Watersheds Improved

20+

Direct Federal Funding

$5M+

Fish Passage Barriers Addressed

20+

Total Conservation Investment

$30M+

Our Strategic Plan

A critical management goal is the removal of migration barriers to allow fish passage between upper watersheds and the sea. The Partnership is supporting on-the-ground restoration including removal of barriers to native fish and invertebrate migration, controlling invasive riparian vegetation, improving water quality in coastal areas, and contributing to educational programs and outreach. Partners include local watershed coalitions, private landowners, federal and state agencies, and Native Hawaiian groups.

Support Our Work

Every gift helps the Hawaiʻi FHP remove fish passage barriers, restore stream and estuary habitat, and keep native species connected from mountain to reef.