Passion, knowledge and concern about the ocean brought hundreds to the Blaisdell Center yesterday as a presidential task force convened the fourth in a series of meetings around the country to collect comments that will shape ocean policy.

More than 90 residents and experts from a group of 400 attendees signed up to testify in hopes of swaying the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force to address issues close to their hearts.

Besides the expected call to create policy to address debris, pollution and fishing, a contingent of cultural practitioners emphasized the use of local knowledge as well as scientific research to make decisions.

Two hundred years ago, the Hawaiians fed 1 million people, but today Hawai'i can't feed 5 percent of its population, said M. Kalani Souza, with the Olohana Foundation.

"We need more real partners that honor and respect the contribution that all of us bring to the table," Souza said. "Let's integrate traditional knowledge into the institutions that serve us."

The task force, created by President Obama in June, has completed an interim report for the Suggested National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts and the Great Lakes that can be read and commented on at www.whitehouse.gov/oceans.

The report's suggested policies are:

• Healthy and resilient ocean, coasts and Great Lakes.

• Safe and productive ocean, coasts and Great Lakes.

• Understood and treasured ocean, coasts and Great Lakes.

The 37-page report also includes a coordination framework for the policies, ways to improve the nation's oceans, coasts and Great Lakes and implementation strategies to achieve a national policy.

Souza said he read the report and sensed that the nation was at the beginning of a larger process.

"I remain hopeful that the language and the spirit of the document reflect, I believe, a new sensitivity, an intention to engage meaningfully the challenges that loom on our collective horizon," he said.

Jane Lubchenco, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, and administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, headed the task force meeting.

"The draft policy is a clear statement that healthy oceans matter," she said. "It's also a clear statement that the federal family is committed to being good stewards to our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes."

Panelists at the public meeting asked the task force to consider regional issues and spoke of the need to address land issues that affect the ocean as well as debris fields littering the waters.

Some suggested measures such as banning spearfishing while using scuba gear and redesigning ships to eliminate alien species transfer in ballast water.

Randy Cates, president/ CEO of Cates International, called for finding new ways to produce seafood. Jo-Ann Leong, director of the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, wants a national educational program on the ocean.

Residents offered their expertise, such as Isabella Abbott, known as the limu lady, who has studied and written about seaweed for 50 years, and Sharon Pomroy, Kaua'i representative for the 'Aha Ki'ole Committee, who offered a report on Native Hawaiian fishing.

"This is the answer to what you guys are looking for," Pomroy said.