In 2014, government funding was allocated for 10years to research aimed at answering scientific challenges facing Aotearoa New Zealand. For the marine area the challenge was “allowing utilisation of marine resources within biological constraints” and the method deemed appropriate for this was Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM). The first 5 years of the Challenge focused on social processes, non-monetary values, Māori relationships and knowledge, biophysical methods and concepts, policy and legal implications, and tools - with most projects being interdisciplinary. The second 5 years saw the complete co-design of the research strategy and the implementation of transdisciplinary research and co-development of outputs and outcomes focused around three supporting pillars: EBM, blue economy and Te Ao Māori, with the development of frameworks, guidance and methods that underpinned these. Here we discuss the journey and some of the scientific, research, cultural and social achievements of the Challenge.