Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 11, 1 November 2001 — Pōhaku Power [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Pōhaku Power

Stone by stone, Moloka'i fishponds are restored with comraunity might

By Naomi Sodetani On the beach at the far eastern end of Moloka'i, a dozen young women plaee 'ili'ili, 10 lb. rocks, in red plastic buckets. Meanwhile, in the 4apping waves, six young men wrestle with a half-ton boulder captured in a polyethylene cargo net. With grunts and groans, they begin to move it towards a 350 ft, rock wall that encloses the shallow half-acre lagoon. Through such back-breaking toil, three traditional fishponds — 'Ualapu'e Fishpond. Honouli

Wai Fishtrap and, most recently in January, Kahinapōhaku Fishpond — have been restored in recent decades by Moloka'i residents, who are determined to save these cultural assets and return them to productive use. Moloka'i's southern coast is ringed by 74 ancient stonewalled ponds, some as old as 1 ,000 years. Half are state-con-trolled; most are crumbling from longstanding neglect. Of 488 ponds counted in a

1990 state survey, Moloka'i boasts the greatest concentration of loko kuapā (closed coastal) and loko'ume'iki (fishtrap-style) ponds per acre of all the islands, owing to the ideal configuration of recurring shallow Iagoons and a fringing reef that protects the rock walls from high surf. "Moloka'i was known as 'āina momona, land of fat fish. because our reefs and fishponds were so abundant," says activist Walter Ritte. One of OHA's founding trustees and a leader of Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, Ritte coordinates the Loko

I'a restoration project. These once-magnificent rock-structure ponds had sustained a thriving population estimated at 35,000 at the time of Western contact. Ingeniously designed to harness nature's rhythms, they stockpiled a perennial supply of protein. While most cultures developed some form of aquaculture, "Hawaiian fishponds are unique in the world," says Buddy Ke'ala, an aquaculture specialist with the University of Hawai'i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources

(UH-CTAHR) and a longtime advocate of f i s h p o~n d restoration. Hawaiians of old were ^eientists and keen observers of nature who knew when young 'aholehole would leave the shal-

lows to go to sea; they also read the currents and tides. They located ponds near freshwater springs, utilizing fertile brackish conditions where they didn't just catch, but also bred fish and limu. "The technology is so simple, yet so sophisticated," Ke'ala explains. Loko kuapā featured mākāhā, openings with a grate across it, that prevented stagnation and siltation build-up. Made of vertical sticks, they allowed tiny fish and oeean currents to pass freely through the walls. As the young "fry" grew, they became trapped.

After the Mahele, fishponds rapidly deteriorated, along with the social infrastructure of cooperation required to build and maintain them. Then, during the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s, Hawaiians sought to restore the fishponds as a - way to. preserve cultural and historical values, Loko I'a strives to convert the historic structures into sustainable culturally based backyard businesses that, unlike tourism, enhanee the eommunity's subsistence lifestyle. In 'Ualapu'e, the first pond to be restored, fish farming has begun with hatchery stocks of awa (milkfish), 'ama'ama (mullet) and limu. Ritte says the glistening ponds are a form of "wayfinding, like Hōkūle'a, that helps us rediscover what our ancestors knew, so we ean survive and prosper today." While helping to repair the last two ponds, Mieah Lopez, 22, "learned about water quality, how to cooperate and take pride in things the Hawaiians did; what it took to build those walls." The youth eagerly hopes to join Loko I'a's next effort at Pānāhāhā. "The work is hard," Lopez admits, "but at the end of the day, get good feeling in your heart 'cause you know you're leaving something for your kids." Their labor of love nurtures "high-tech smarts, leadership and business skills, and self-esteem," Ritte says. "When they see what they have done, you see the gleam in their eyes; can't put a dollar price on that. "Our young people are building a pono new industry, following the footsteps of our ancestors," he reflects. "We're rebuilding our foundation as a community, hand to hand, stone by stone." ■

Nā Mokhpiini l_g iMHTiiri'ii:Q2!Q^H JOK TTTMT w I *"™ W ™

SWEAT EQUITY — Moloka'i youths restore Kahinapōhaku Fishpond to its original splendor. Historian Samuel Kamakau described how the construction ef large ponds "re<4uired the labor of morethan 10,000 men" who lined up for miles to pass eaeh rock from its source to the oeean. photo: waiter Ritte

"'A'ohe hana nui ke alu 'ia - no task is too big when done together by all." This 'ōlelo no'eau collected by Kawena Pūku'i is exempiified in fishpond restoration.

"O ZJ o 0 1 I o 1 3 \ i