Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 4, 1 Mei 1984 — OHA Looking into Aquatic Farm [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Looking into Aquatic Farm

Among the many projects OHA has been looking into is an aquatic farm at Hakipuu on the Windward side. While OHA has been assisting several Hawaiian families and monitoring a variety of projects, the aquatic farm is only an exploratory matter whieh contains a good number of possibilities. OHA Administrator T. C. Yim, Trustee Rockne Freitas and Eeonomie Development Officer James K. Moa recently toured Aquatic Farms Ltd. to get a first hand look at the project. lt is a 28-acre farm consisting of 1 2 production ponds with a total net water surface area of 8.5 acres, a multi-species hatchery and a series of four trenches for the intensive culture of bivalves. Currently, the 12 ponds are used to culture several aquatic species, the primary crops being marine shrimps, freshwater prawns, red tilapia and oysters. The hatchery is used to produce post-larvae of the freshwater prawn to stock the farm and to sell to other farmers. Red tilapia are also spawned in the hatchery and the adult ftsh are exported to Hong Kong where they are a delicacy always in demand. The farm has a saltwater well, a freshwater supply system that is gravity fed from a stream abutting the property, an office building, residence, laboratories (both wet and dry). a repair shop and storage sheds. Following the tour, Yim expressed several areas of interest where OH A may be an interested participant. Heemphasized, however, OHA was only exploring the matter and that it needs more study before anything definite may eome out of it. Freitas liked what he saw but agreed with Yim that the project needs more

study. He noted that one of the possibilities of the farm is to provide the opportunity for Hawaiian extended families to learn the process, gain experience and work closely with technical expertise from those most knowledgeable in the

field. Yim again cautioned that this was one of the things OHA was looking into and that nothing definite has been worked out. OHA will continue to monitor the situation and explore all possibilities.

Charles F. Greenwald, vice president of Aquatic Farms, explains complex to OFIA Trustee Rockne Freitas with Administrator T.C. Yim looking on to his left. In foreground leaning over railing is Eeonomie Development Officer James Moa. Inset are two tiger prawns raised at the farm.