Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 2, 1 February 1999 — The tradition is gone [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The tradition is gone

ALOHA MAI! The Jan. 14 Honolulu Advertiser ran a ffont-page article on the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council's failure to stop over fishing and protect essential habitaLs in Hawaiian waters. A 1996 law orders the Council tō protect fisheries as a way of stopping depletion of fish stocks and recovering fish popula-

ūon. Our Hawanan ancestors knew how to replenish and conserve their fishing resources long before foreigners entered Hawaiian waters. I wrote the following article in August 1991, and I am sharing these thoughts with you again: i This is a story told to me by my father, a fish- I erman in Ka'ohe, Kona. There are no Hawaiian fishermen living today who eonūnue the old tradition to hānai the 'ōpelu. Hānai is feeding.

/\s a nawauan ramny would hānai a child by feeding and caring for it, the 'ōpelu were also fed and cared for. Eaeh fishing district along the Kona Coast from Ho'okena, Pāhoehoe, Honokua, Ka'ohe, 'Opihale to Miloli'i would adhere to a strict kapu system reserving certain periods specifically to hānai the 'ōpelu. No one was permitted to harvest or lay nets for 'ōpelu during this period! Enforcement was selfimposed by the community. Eaeh 'ōpelu district was designated by respective landmarks and boundaries, and eaeh fisherman would poliee himself. According to my father, the 'ōpelu were summoned by the pound of the eanoe paddle on the sides of the canoes when it was time for the 'ōpelu to gather and to be fed. The behavior and the gathering of the 'ōpelu was interesting. It seemed as though the kama'āina

'ōpelu ('au'a) would gather and would bring more and more malihini 'ōpelu from everywhere. The school of 'ōpelu would grow and get larger and larger. The "au'a was an experienced 'ōpelu, or an old-timer, having escaped from an 'ōpelu net at least onee. These 'au'a were usually larger in size and understood how they were fed and when to exit the net Sometimes

though, the au a was careless and would get caught with the rest of the 'ōpelu. From the 1900s to 1930s, about six famihes lived in the district of Ka'ohe, eaeh responsible for the 'ōpelu on a rotanng weekly basis. Feeding wouId usually take plaee in Apnil, May and June. 'Opelu fishing and farming were important to the hvelihood of the Ka'ohe districL During the winter months, usu-

auy tNovemner tnrougn February, the villagers would move mauka to mahi'ai. Ihe oeean would be rough at this time of the year so the people would farm taro, sweet potato and bananas. The 'ōpelu harvest would generally begin in late June and last through December, peaking around September or October eaeh year. It was a tradition to lay a new 'upena (net) as the first net for the 'ōpelu season. All of the other fishermen would accompany the fisherman with his new net to observe. After the net was laid, they retumed to the beach to celebrate. Now they would kālua the pig and prepare the food. The whole village shared in the festivities for the celebration of the new net. This was good luek for the fisheiman and his new net. Hānai 'ōpelu ended in the early 1940s when World War II broke out and the respective famihes left the See HAO

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