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Big Fish in
Little Ponds
by Betty Fullard-Leo
Fishponds, loko i'a, encircle the shores of the Hawaiian
Islands, their origins shrouded in legend and inconclusive
carbon dating. Some, with walls of basalt and coral,
rest like necklaces of glistening black pearls against
the blue shoulders of the sea, rimming green and golden
shorelines. Others, loko pu'uone, natural anchialine
ponds, scallop the shore inland, their levels rising
and falling with the tide as the water seeps through
porous lava or circulates through sluice gates cleverly
devised in some ancient time to prevent fattened fish
from escaping.
Studies conducted in 1903 and 1989 give vastly differing
counts for these salt or brackish water pools in which
early Hawaiians once practiced aqua culture. Early estimates
total 158 manmade ponds, while a more recent Bishop
Museum study lists 370 throughout the chain-a number
which includes naturally existing fishponds as well
as man-made.
Some ponds are said to have been built in a single
night by menehune as early as 1200 AD; the construction
of others are verified in chants from as late as the
18th and 19th centuries. For loko kuapa, ponds that
wall off semicircles of ocean along the shoreline, entire
communities labored together under the command of their
ali'i to fashion walls of rock three-to-nine-feet thick
on top of a fringing reef.
Historian Samuel Kamakau wrote in 1869, "When
the wood ('ohi'a or lama) for the makaha (sluice gate)
was ready, and the proper day had arrived for its construction,
the kahuna was fetched to set up the first piece of
timber. For this important duty, he offered a hog and
a dog suitable to this work of inspiring the increase
of fish, and appropriate prayers...Then he reached for
a timber and set it up for the makaha and offered the
closing prayer. Then the men built the makaha, binding
it together with 'ie cords. After that they arranged
foundation stones with the makaha grating, and poured
in pebbles."
A small thatched guard house was erected near the makaha
where the "keeper" slept during high tides
to guard the fish from being stolen or killed by dogs
or pigs.
Small fish entered through the gate's narrow slats
to feed in the nutrient-rich pond. Sweet potatoes, taro
or breadfruit were fed to the fingerlings so they would
return to the same place daily. 'Ama'ama, awa, awa'aua,
kaku, aholehole, 'o'opa, 'opae, mullet and puhi soon
grew too plump to swim back out through the makaha.
The best and the biggest fish were easily harvested
in a long net held by men at either end, while others
splashed the water to drive the fish into the net.
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Along the Big Island's Kohala Coast, major resort hotels
have restored some well-preserved ponds and posted interpretive
signs along their fringing walkways. The seven ponds
of Kalahuipua'a at the Mauna Lani Resort were royal
ponds that came under the control of King Kamehameha
the Great when he conquered the islands between 1790
and 1810. When the king and his court were in residence
at Kamakahonu at Kailua-Kona, fish from these fishponds
or from other ponds at 'Anaeho'omalu (in front of the
Royal Waikoloan Resort) and on the grounds of Kona Village
Hotel kept the king's table well supplied. Fresh fish
were caught and wrapped still wriggling in layers of
wet, green leaves. A swift runner raced with the fresh
catch of the day along the King's Road, or during calm
weather, a paddler quickly transported the live fish
to the king's cook via outrigger canoe.
Today, kings and commoners alike can enjoy fish harvested
from a pond in Hilo. The Nakagawa family has operated
50-acre Loko-Waka fishpond for two generations. Fish
served at their Seaside Restaurant (808/935-8825) are
caught in Hawaiian-style fish-traps and raised to eating
size when they swim in from the ocean via a connecting
waterway. It's fun to savor a regal meal of fried ahole,
or mullet steamed in ti leaves, or combination dinners
of mullet, trout, perch or catfish just as the ancient
ali'i might have in days long past.
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Story appeared originally in Coffee Times print magazine and appears online for archival purposes only. Any use or reprinting of these stories without the expressed written consent of the author is prohibited.
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