Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 8, 1 August 2023 — Kīpahulu Poised to Become the Next Community Based Subsistence Fishing Area [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kīpahulu Poised to Become the Next Community Based Subsistence Fishing Area

By Lisa Huynh Eller More than a decade after declaring its intent, the community of Kīpahulu, Maui, is on the cusp of becoming Hawai'i's next Community Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA). Advocates say communities such as Kīpahulu are leading the way toward better governance over natural resources. "We are grateful that our proposed designation is moving forward and that DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) recognizes that one entity cannot effectively manage all of Hawai'i's resources, but rather it should be done in tandem with community co-stew-ardship across the pae aina so long as the community supports it," said Kamalei Pieo, who has lineal ties to the area through her maternal grandparents. Pieo took over as executive director for Kīpahulu 'Ohana in April 2023 after more than 10 years as a volunteer, succeeding Scott Crawford who served as director for more than 20 years. The organization was founded by John and Tweetie Lind. Kīpahulu sought designation after noticing a significant increase in recreational and commercial fishermen engaging in unsustainable harvests, Pieo said. "We could see right before us that our resources were in decline and our community needed to work toward addressing the issues and eome up with meaningful solutions." On June 23, the Board of Land and Natural Resources unanimously approved the community's request for a puhlie hearing on the designation. The puhlie hearing is tentatively scheduled for September. In the meantime, Pieo said Kīpahulu 'Ohana scheduled a Makai Watch Training in August, in preparation for CBSFA implementation. "CBSFAs may not be for all communities, but a CBSFA for our community is the right fit to protect our subsistence lifestyle, traditions, resources, and legacy," Pieo said. "It is a designation we've chosen and a space that would allow for ample fishing to feed 'ohana now and into the future, with places set aside to rest and replenish the iee box." Kīpahulu is the latest, but not the only, community to seek a pathway toward self-governance guided by traditional practices and customs. There are CBSFAs at Miloli'i on Hawai'i Island, Mo'omomi on Moloka'i, and Hāena on Kauai. Miloli'i gained its designation as a CBSFA in 2005. However, the rules governing fishing for the area did not heeome law until August 2022. Though the process was long, U'ilani Naipo, a lineal descendant of Miloli'i, said these traditional practices needed to be "understood, framed and navigated" into the proposed rules. "There are vessels of knowledge that we're responsible

for. Not just the 'ike itself, not just the names, not just the stories, but the actual traditional practice itself in this landscape. Sometimes we don't realize that knowledge lives in the landscape itself," said Naipo. "We can't talk about fishing without [actually] fishing. Ma ka hana ka 'ike (Through doing one learns). We can't talk about ōpelu fishing without having the skill set and knowing how the 'upena (net) is made, how it is used, how to hānai (raise) opelu." The long lag between designation and rule adoption, whieh was a challenge for both Miloli'i and Kīpahulu, highlighted mueh needed improvements to the process of establishing governance of CBSFAs. "The biggest challenge we feel is that the process took extremely long. We started this process in 2010 and fast forward to 2023, we are 'almost there,"' said Pieo. Keeping the community engaged proved difHcult though not impossible she said. Another challenge has been learning to work across different frameworks, Naipo said. "DAR (the Division of Aquatic Resources) didn't have a lot of experience on how to work with communities like ours," she said. "They have a Western framework and we have a cultural framework." Things seemingly as straightforward as data eolleetion heeame a challenge. Traditionally, kilo (observation) is the primary method of data collection and retained through generational learning passed down in the practice. Part of Naipo's kuleana was to get loeal fishermen the credit they deserved, to help others understand the depth of knowledge held by Miloli'i's fifth and sixth generation opelu fishermen. "The best way I ean explain that is the tradition is so pa'a (solid) here," she said. Her advocacy work includes telling their story.

Naipo said she ean see at least two ways to improve the governance of CBSFAs. One is to grant co-managers specific privileges so that they ean monitor the heahh of their CBSFA. 'An example of this would be Special Access Permits, related and translated directly from our ruleset for managed species list. This would give the state-recognized co-manager flexibility in monitoring the heahh of the fisheries," she said. The second is to provide training and recruitment of loeal community members to perform their management responsibilities. In 1994, lawmakers passed legislation that gave DLNR the authority to create CBSFAs for the "purpose of protecting and reafhrming fishing practices customarily and traditionally exercised for purposes of Native Hawaiian subsistence, culture and religion." Kevin Chang, executive director of Kua 'Aina Ulu 'Auamo, a nonprofit organization whieh advocates for community-based resource management and provides support to the communities taking on this work, said: "Government doesn't have a good way of working with its citizens. (The CBSFA law) moves the government to do that." But while the law creates a framework for eo-man-agement, it does not clearly define the responsibilities of those involved. "Ihe communities are beginning to define the kuleana they ean take on because they have been taking it on, in spite of the government," said Chang. "We need to better define rights and responsibilities and increase capacity and accountability on both the eommunity and the government side. "We also need more funding to support community efforts. Right now, it's all voluntary. I think the bigger goal is to develop a leg of our economy that upholds the health of the environment." ■

ln 2010, residents of the remote community of Kīpahulu in Eost Maui begon the process to estoblish the oreo os o Community Bosed Subsistonce Fishing Areo ofter observing too mony recreotionol ond commerciol fishers engoging in unsustoinoble horvests. - C ourtesy Photo