Activists hope to recreate a sustainable fishery by restoring and stocking fishponds like Keawanui along Moloka‘i’s southeast shore · Mickey Pauole
Starting around 1200 AD, ancient Hawaiians created a system unique in the world: hybrid, cultivated-wild aquaculture using ponds to trap, raise, and harvest ocean fish.
The yellowfin goatfish is one of ten goatfishes native to Hawai‘i, where they have long been a source of food · Yuko Stender
After more than 40 years of campaigning for Hawaiian sovereignty, Walter Ritte, affectionately known as “Uncle Walter,” still finds a lot to smile about · Mickey Pauole
Nonprofit Hui o Kuapā advocates Native Hawaiian rights and issues and organizes hands-on experience for people in the fishponds, or “loko i‘a” · Mickey Pauole
Fishponds were fundamental to Hawaiian nutrition and culture. But that culture broke down by degrees during colonization and the US overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in 1893.
Children learn the ways of the ancient Hawaiians at Hui o Kuapā’s learning center at the edge of the Keawanui fishpond · Mickey Pauole
Despite the hurdles, including many stints in jail, Walter Ritte remains committed to the goal of Native Hawaiian sovereignty · Mickey Pauole
Ritte is a living legend in Hawai‘i’s native rights movement, known across Moloka‘i and beyond as “Uncle Walter.” He radiates an iron core of intensity and conviction that initially intimidates — until he flashes a sudden, crinkly smile so genuine that it brings the sun.
In the late 1970s, Walter Ritte and his family made their home in Moloka‘i’s Pelakulu Valley, living off the land as their ancestors had · Mickey Pauole
Sources of fresh water such as springs and streams are integral to the Hawaiian fishpond system, providing nutrients that young ocean fish seek out as they develop · Mickey Pauole
Reconstruction of the rock walls that encircle fishponds is a hands-on, labor-intensive process for the Native Hawaiians seeking to reconnect with ancient traditions · Mickey Pauole
In the early 1800s, more than 450 fishponds were dotted around the coastlines of the Hawaiian Islands · Mickey Pauole
Each fishpond is a unique system that requires nearly constant attention from its caretakers · Mickey Pauole
A 12-year study of He‘eia Fishpond correlated two periods of fish die-offs with these weather events. As climate change intensifies, these extremes could happen more often.
Attracted as juveniles by the nutrient-rich waters of the Hawaiian fishponds, species including the goldring surgeonfish soon grow too large to leave · Keoki Stender
Together with his wife Loretta, Walter Ritte has dedicated his life to the Hawaiian sovereignty movement and the preservation of natural resources · Mickey Pauole
Like a living, breathing jewel attached to the shore, the Kupeke fishpond promises a sustainable source of fish · Mickey Pauole
But most important, for fishpond activists, are the connections they have made through this work to an ancient culture stripped from Native Hawaiians over the past two centuries.
Traditional arts, sciences, and cultural practices are being rediscovered through the “Hawaiian Renaissance” · Mickey Pauole