Culture and History

Traditional Hawaiian resource management was based on the ahupua‘a, or mountain-to-sea land division, that usually included one or more complete watershed. Each ahupua‘a had the resources necessary to support the local population: there was fresh water for drinking and irrigation, land and fertile soil for farming, forests for raw materials, and an ocean ecosystem for providing the Hawaiians with their main source of protein—fish. The konohiki was an individual responsible for the management and allocation of natural resources in an ahupua‘a. The konohiki would consult with ali‘i, kupuna (respected elders), and po‘o lawai‘a (master fishermen) to set the fishing seasons and limits, based on detailed information on the local area and an understanding of natural cycles of spawning and recruitment. The kapu system—the strict but fluid legal system in ancient Hawai‘i—ensured that the community respected the regulations set forth by the konohiki. Violation of the imposed kapu often resulted in immediate death for the offender. This system was a highly involved regulatory process that demanded respect for marine resources and a thorough knowledge of fish stocks in each ahupua‘a.

Through strict and measured management, Native Hawaiians were able to harvest fish sustainably and support human populations approaching or possibly exceeding the number of people on Hawai‘i Island today.

Following Hawai‘i’s annexation to the United States in 1898, fisheries management was delegated to various government agencies that supported the “freedom of the seas” concept. Traditional seasons and limits were replaced with unlimited entry, resulting in resource depletion through overfishing. Detailed reports from the U.S. Fish Commission from 1898 to 1905 provide a baseline that has been used to document an 80 percent reduction in coastal fish catch between 1900 and 1986⁽¹⁾. Several factors have led to continued increases in fishing, including mass immigration of various cultural groups with no familiarity with Hawai‘i’s traditional resource management practices, and advances in technology that enable larger, more efficient harvests by reducing the limitations of depth, distance, weather, and darkness.

Overfishing has been cited as one of the main threats to coral reef ecosystems. There is a sharp contrast between shallow reef fish assemblages in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) and the populated Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). More than 50 percent of the total reef fish biomass in the lightly fished NWHI consists of apex predators, while the other 50 percent is a combination of herbivores and low-level carnivores. On the other hand, apex predators comprise less than five percent of biomass in the heavily fished MHI, while approximately 55 percent of biomass consists of herbivores and roughly 40 percent consists of low-level carnivores. Additionally, reef biomass in the NWHI is 260 percent greater than the MHI reefs⁽²⁾. Because apex predators, which are highly valued as food, are largely absent from MHI reefs, fishermen in Hawai‘i target herbivores and low-level carnivores such as parrotfish, surgeonfish, soldierfish, and goatfish. Several of these fish species play a vital role in maintaining reef health by grazing and keeping algae populations at a healthy level. Removal of these fish groups from the reef will result in ecosystems shifting toward reefs dominated by macroalgae, seagrass, and sponges⁽³⁾. Read The Kohala Center's Flow of Fish Study (2011).

The combined environmental, social, and economic impacts of depleted fish stocks in Hawai‘i inspired state agencies to enact several laws regulating the exploitation of marine resources. These laws include closures of certain areas to specific activities (Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs), rotational and seasonal closures, restrictions on fishing gear and methods, size and bag limits, and rules preventing the take of certain species. However, these regulations are insufficient for sustainable fisheries (as evidenced by still-depleted fish stocks), and additional regulatory measures are difficult to establish. In order for the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to enact new rules, fish populations need to be assessed with surveys and scientific studies identifying the cause of the decline. Perhaps even more important, DLNR needs support and approval from various user groups such as fishermen, eco-tourists, and conservation groups. In Hawai‘i especially, where recent generations have become accustomed to the “freedom of the seas” mentality, fishermen are reluctant to try new management strategies. These barriers, along with slow legal processes and insufficient regulatory enforcement, create a need for alternative management strategies.

Although there are regulations in place, enforcement in Hawai‘i is too limited to be effective. Hawai‘i Island alone has 4,028 square miles of land area and over 250 miles of coastline, but only 22 resource enforcement officers in 2010. Overlapping responsibilities between county, state, and federal agencies further complicate enforcement issues.