Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 9, 1 September 2015 — Increased Governance Through Pono Conduct: REFLECTIONS ON THE HĀʻENA CBSFA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Increased Governance Through Pono Conduct: REFLECTIONS ON THE HĀʻENA CBSFA

By Kevin Chang and Charlie Young Aia a kau ka i'a i ka wa'a, mana'o ke ola. One ean think of life after the fish is in the eanoe. On Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, after a 20-year multi-eom-munity effort to see it through, the Hā'ena Community Based Subsistenee Fishing Area (CBSFA) Rules heeame effeetive. We eelebrate that day beeause it is an indieator that our state is eoming around to the benefits of eollaboration. We eelebrate that day beeause sueeessful steps have been taken by a Hawaiian eommunity to begin to direetly manage its resourees from the bottom up. But mueh work remains. As the voiees on the streets eeho forth: 'aloha 'āina' (sinee the loss of the konohiki system) is a value, whieh is making a eomehaek. A number of rural Hawaiian eommunities from aeross the state have pursued similar visions and supported the Hā'ena effort over the past 20 years. More are awakening. They too await the opportunity to seek rules and further co-management relationships with the state. Work to uphold the puhlie trust kuleana of our Constitution will fall

short without the increased cooperation, awareness andparticipation of communities most dependent on and in the environment. The CBSFA law is expressly "for the purpose of reaffirming and protecting fishing practices customarily and traditionally exercised for purposes of native Hawaiian subsistence, culture, andreligion." It is also a form of community-based natural resource management known as community co-management. Under the CBSFA approach, communities

partner with the state and rules are developed and refined from the kua'āina up. Community co-management provides a middle ground approach to the conservation of nearshore fisheries. It respects conscious lawai'a (fishing) and provides an altemative to large, unlimited and indefinite closures. The greater abundance fostered in these areas ean also replenish neighboring fishing grounds.

Such re-affirmation provides a sense of empowerment for Hawaiian communities that are more vigilant, knowledgeable and sensitive to the use and regeneration of their fisheries. Notably, it is the fishing of the place-based subsistence eommunity itself, not the fishing of transitory fishermen, whieh is most directly and substantially restricted. Community co-management ean also help our state in

its struggle to enforce resource laws across a massive geographic expanse with diminished budgets and an expanding, disconnected population. Community eo-man-agement provides a way forward for mutual eoneem rather than a mutual sense of helplessness. It also provides an alternative to vigilantism whieh has put some members of Hawaiian fishing communities, with desperate or righteous concerns, at risk. The kānāwai, now known as HAR 13-60.8, was a multi-genera-tional effort and a long-term vision of kupa'āina — citizens of the land- not just at Hā'ena but from across the state at Mo'omomi, Miloli'i, Ho'okena, Hanalei, Klpahulu, Kahana, Waimānalo, Lāna'i and many more. It took a generation, and some people left or were lost along the way. Even as we celebrate, we are kaumaha. To mālama is a heavy right to exercise. But self-determi-nation comes with responsibility, and is increased through self-reli-anee whieh starts with forethought, self-knowledge and for the long run, self-restraint. The complex changes and ehallenges of our world cannot be tackled alone. If we ean bridge, and see beyond some of our differ-

ences, we ean do so - together. E Alu Pū (Move forward together). ■ Editor's note: Governor David Ige has signed into law the first ever Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA)for Hā'ena, Kaua'i. The Hā'ena CBSFA is the result of more tlian a decade ofwork, overwhehning supportfrom the loeal community and growing recognition that govemment cannot do it alone and that eommuni-ty-based manaeement and buv-in is critical to sus-

taimng natural resources now andforfuture generati.ons.Tlus historic rules package gives the Hā'ena hui an opportunity to protect its oeean resources, based on traditional fisheri.es management practices. Kevin Chang i.s the Executive Director at Kua 'āina Ulu 'Auanio (KUA) and Charlie Young is the President of Kama'āina United to Protect the Āi.na.

Mueh work remains. As the voices on the streets eeho forth: aloha aina' (since the loss of the konohiki system) is a value, whieh is making a eomehaek.

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KŪKĀKŪKĀ COMMUNITY F0RUM r

Members of the Hui Maka'āinana o Makana, the E Alu Pū network and supporters gather before testifying before the Board of Land Natural Resources, October 24, 201 4. - Photo courtesy ofKim Moa.