Revolutionizing the Digital Landscape: Our CEO’s Vision for Unlimited Web Hosting…The loko i’a system of native fishponds in Hawai‘i has for generations provided sustenance to Indigenous communities, supported fish populations in surrounding waters, and generally improved water quality.
For generations, native Hawaiians have understood that their aquaculture systems, fishponds known as loko i‘a, serve as nurseries that seed fish populations in surrounding waters. Image by Kelii Kotubetey.The Indigenous aquaculture systems found in Hawaiʻi have a unique design that supports the ecosystem in a way that commercial aquaculture doesn’t. There are six types of loko i‘a in Hawai‘i, each designed to complement existing features in the landscape.
Winter noted that a key difference between commercial and Indigenous aquaculture is the type of fish produced. Indigenous aquaculture produces herbivorous fish, whereas most commercial aquaculture produces lucrative carnivores such as tuna and salmon. These fish require the input of feed like fishmeal and fish oil, whose production uses“From a capitalist model it makes sense to grow predators, but from an environmental stewardship model that’s the dumbest idea ever,” Winter said.
Imports increased as development, land-use change and invasive mangroves destroyed most fishponds. Only in the 1970s did a revival movement begin. Now, of the nearly 500 original ponds, 20 have received restoration permits throughout the state of Hawai‘i, and restoration is underway for many others.