Customary Access: Sustaining Local Control of Fishing and Food on Kaua‘i’s North Shore

Abstract

Where Hawai`i’s land and sea once supported a population close to contemporary times, today 90 percent of food consumed in Hawaiʻi is imported and delivered on container ships. Once plentiful in the bays and coral reefs surrounding these islands, fish is now frequently shipped in and store bought. Yet, local families in parts of Hawai`i have maintained self-sufficiency in part of their food system through communal surround net fishing, employing ancestral knowledge, mobilizing community effort, and sharing catch from these collective harvests. This article examines the role of access in perpetuating surround net harvests and sharing through hōʻihi (respectful reciprocity); konohiki (inviting ability); and kuleana (rights based on responsibilities). It concludes by considering the implications of the findings for food systems and food security.

Keywords:

• access
• food systems
• small-scale fisheries
• indigenous
• customary practice

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Malia and Victor Nobrega-Olivera, Malia Akutagawa, Kaui Fu, Billy Kinney, Kamealoha Forrest, Bethany Wylie, the students of Kaiaulu, transcriptionists of Stanford’s Hui o Hawaiʻi and LAMA, for helping to bring these interviews to life. Mahalo to Hi`ilei Hobart for her patience and insights throughout the editorial process, to all reviewers; to funders NSF SEES (1216109), Emmett Interdisciplinary Program for Environment and Resources, Community Forestry and Environmental Research Partnerships, Heinz, and Switzer fellowships; Peter Vitousek, Barton Thompson, Meg Caldwell, Nicole Ardoin, Jack Kittenger, Louise Fortmann and lab members. Mahalo to KUA, HCSN, and E Alu Pū, Waipā Foundation, Limahuli Gardens, Hā`ena Community Members, Hui Makaʻainana o Makana, our families, and everyone who helped to contribute to this article and effort. Thank you especially to the fishing families and kūpuna (elders) of Koʻolau and Haleleʻa: Hāʻena, Wainiha, Hanalei, Wanini, Kalihikai, and Kalihiwai for your generous sharing and aloha for your ʻāina, your home.

Notes

1. This article makes extensive use of Hawaiian terms to describe Native Hawaiian culture and practices. We define and italicize each term the first time it is introduced.

2. Newer research suggests that the actual number of konohiki fisheries was far higher than 400 (Akutagawa Forthcoming), with one map from 1923 delineating close to 100 ahupuaʻa fisheries on the island of Oʻahu alone (Friedlander, Shackeroff and Kittinger, 2013; Murakami and Tanaka, 2015).

3. The name may also refer to the many (lau) people needed to pull the catch to shore.