Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 1, 1 January 1995 — Hāna Youth Center builds fishpond to weather the storms [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hāna Youth Center builds fishpond to weather the storms

by Patrick Johnston Hāna's Loko Iki fishpond has a problem: Unlike many of the ponds still in use today, Loko Iki is located on the windward side of the island and faces the full brunt of storms that hit Maui every year. For the fishpond's present caretakers — the staff and kids at the Hāna Youth Center - this has meant rebuilding its rock walls four times in the past four years.

Something had to change and the

center turned to OHA and a number of other organizations across the state to help bring this about. "The problem," explains B i 1 1 Monahan, project director of the Maui-based Self Help of People (SHOP), "was how to build a wall that would stand up to the surf but at the same time maintain the integrity of the Hawaiian fishpond." Rocks were needed, big ones. Storms had no problem tossing around the small stones that had been used to originally reconstruct the pond wall. Unfortunately, boulders were hard to find and even harder to move. Enter OHA, Maui county, SHOP, the Oeeanie Institute and a haekhoe owned by Moloka'i's Kip Dunbar. Maui county provided the rocks, large boulders that had washed down a loeal river and were blocking a road. OHA's support eame in the form of a $10,000 grant, the bulk of

that money going toward hauling the boulders to the fishpond site. Dunbar, an expert fishpond builder, provided his vehicle free of charge. Monahan and the Oeeanie Institute have been with the Loko Iki fishpond since the late 1980s when the latest efforts at restoring the fishpond began. They have assisted by providing technieal support in a number of areas including the development of a business plan, providing seed stock, and helping to remove elements from the pond that hurt the

growth of the fish. "We teach about all aspects of restoring a fishpond," explains Billy Richards, research associate at the Oeeanie Institute. "We also provide technical help if there is a crisis." The Loko Iki fishpond has been around for generations but began to receive added attention six years ago when Carl Lindquist, then manager at the Hotel Hāna Maui, expressed an interest in rebuilding it. With the help of SHOP and the Oeeanie Institute the fishpond project was able to get state, then later federal, funds to aid in its restoration. In 1990, charge of the pond was taken over by the Hāna Youth Center, whieh wanted to use the maintenance of the pond as part of their activities. "We wanted to educate the young about Hawaiian culture," staffer Jackie Kahula explains. "If you don't teach it you're going to lose it."

The restoration, however, has not been only a cultural activity. Part of the requirements for receiving federal funding was that the center make an attempt to market their product. This might not sit too well with some of the kids who would like to see the fish eventually set free, but it is an important part of the project, whieh SHOP and Oeeanie staff see as eom-munity-based eeonomie development. Selling the fish shouldn't be all that difficult: the pond is being stocked with moi, a great tasting fish

whose scarcity makes them a hot item with fish retailers on Maui and across the state. Whether Loko Iki is seen as a cultural or eeonomie activity, the Hāna community, led by the Hāna Youth Center, has played a vital role in the fishpond restoration. Kahula points out, "The kids really work hard. It's something they want to do." Judging from their mood the day the moi were brought in from Honolulu, the kids don't seem to mind the heavy lifting. "It's fun," Kawai Helekai, a student at Hāna High School, said after a long morning of carrying stones and pond stocking. Kahula and his youth

center crew began work on the latest restoration of the pond last April; by October the last of the large stones were in plaee and on Dec. 6 the first load of moi were shipped in from Honolulu. Several boys from the youth center, with help from Kahula, spent that afternoon stocking the pond with close to a total of 2,000 fingerlings. Their chances of survival appear good: Loko Iki eame out of the first winter storm of the year virtually unscathed.

"The problem was how to build a wall that would stand up to the surf but at the same time still maintain the integrity of the fishpond." - Bill Monahan

Loko Iki fishpond: large boulders have been placed on the oeean side of the pond to protect aqainst storms. Photos by Patrick Johnston

Bill Monahan (left) and Jackie Kahula (right) go over fishpond details with Hāna resident Bule Hoopia.

Kids from the Hāna Youth Center plaee moi fingerlings into fishpond.