![]() ![]() To restore and improve fishponds, Hawaiian aquaculture practitioners are combining contemporary science with traditional practices and knowledge to adapt to today’s sustainability challenges. “There are no site standards or requirements for the Hui each site has different goals according to their watershed and community structure.” Restoration Through Old and New Technologies “Today we have around 40 fishpond sites across the islands in different stages of restoration,” added Asuncion. ![]() “Through our network we provide resources and in-person meetings that host two staff members from each fishpond site, that is about 80–120 people gathering annually to share lessons learned, opportunities, and research,” said Brenda Asuncion, Hui Mālama Loko Iʻa Coordinator. It has worked since 2013 to foster fishpond restoration efforts. KUA has a dedicated fishpond collective known as Hui Mālama Loko Iʻa, meaning network that cares for fishponds. ![]() “The organization is about more than the physical restoration, it also connects our communities to each other, their history, cultural foundation, and future.” In a culture that honors sustainability, fishponds symbolized the connection between communities, the `aina (land), and moʻomeheu (culture). “KUA means backbone, and the organization serves as the backbone that connects multiple communities working to restore Hawaiian bio-cultural resources, including efforts to restore fishponds,” said Kevin Chang, Executive Director of KUA. KUA, an innovative community-based initiative, supports network efforts to build capacity to restore and care for these traditional fishponds. An effort is underway to restore the pond structures and reconnect communities to their aquaculture past. These fishponds offer the opportunity to provide physical and cultural sustenance. A societal move toward more centralized governance and economics, the overthrow and annexation of the Hawaiian government, time, natural disasters, development, and cultural-economic changes led to only four working fishponds by the dawn of the 21 st century. Fishponds served as a unique part of an integrated agricultural and ecosystem management regime today known as the ahupua’a system. Once, nearly 500 fishponds provided local Hawaiian communities with aquacultured seafood. ![]()
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