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Courtesy photo
Waikalua Loko fishpond, here in the early 1900s,
may be over 150 years old.

Work that feeds
the Hawaiian spirit

An ancient site at
Kaneohe Bay that testifies
to native savvy needs help

By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

As ancient Hawaiian fishponds go, Waikalua Loko on the southern shore of Kaneohe Bay is small fry. It is only 11.6 acres, while others four or five times the size dotted the coasts. But the once-abandoned fishpond, sandwiched between a city waste treatment plant and a golf course, offers a big lesson in modern-day survival.

"This is a piece of our past, our history. It would be a shame if it's allowed to die. That's why we formed the Waikalua Loko Fishpond Preservation Society. Our whole mission is to bring life back to the fishpond," said Herb Lee Jr., the society's president.

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Mangrove like this one are the Kaneohe fishpond's
perpetual threats. The Koolau mountains provide
the flow of fresh water that helps create ideal
fish farming conditions.

The society is asking for volunteers tomorrow to help clear mangrove and rubbish from 9 a.m. to noon. In return, volunteers will be treated to an educational tour of the fishpond.

"You should have seen this place when we first started five years ago. There was all this rubbish. We had abandoned cars, old batteries, refrigerators, you name it we had it. It was just piles and piles of rubbish.

"And the mangrove. It was like three stories high. It was completely out of control. It was really taking over the fishpond. You couldn't even see there's a fishpond here," Lee said.

With regular cleanup, the fishpond is looking like a fishpond again. Stubborn mangrove still line the rim, but the fishpond wall is no longer obstructed and fish are thriving once again.

"The fishpond's reached a stage where it can produce again," said Clyde Tamura, a society board member and an aquaculture specialist with Sea Grant Extension Service at the University of Hawaii. "It's a living fishpond once again. We have 'ama'ama (mullet), awa (milkfish), papa'i (crab), barracuda and a lot of other kinds of sea life in there."

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Preservation worker Herb Lee stands beside
one of the gates, which let fish in and out.

But Waikalua Loko is not yet a real fishpond, not until it gets daily stewardship. Fast-growing mangrove need constant weeding. The pond's southern location means a steady influx of rubbish with the tides. Two of the three sluice gates that the ancient Hawaiians devised to trap fish need to be rebuilt.

Lee said the society hopes one day to restore it as a fully functioning fishpond. The immediate plan is to keep out the encroaching mangrove and trash and use it as an educational tool to provide lessons of science, the environment and Hawaiian culture.

The society conducts educational tours upon request, and has hosted more than 2,500 visitors. No fees are required, but everyone in the touring group must agree to clear mangrove or rubbish for 20 minutes, Lee said.

"I perceive this project as a lifetime project. It's important we preserve the fishpond for future generations. It is the kind of fishpond that's unique to Hawaii," said Lee.

Waikalua Loko is a type of fishpond called loko kuapa, which is a unique Hawaiian innovation and the dominant type in the islands.

To make the fishpond, the Hawaiians constructed a wall of stones on existing reef to enclose a body of water in which to raise fish.

Sluice gates allowed juvenile fish to slip in but prevented them from leaving as they grew bigger.

Loko kuapa was efficient and environmentally friendly. They were built along shores with brackish water, where streams of fresh water from the mountains fed into the ocean. The brackish water encourages algae and plankton growth, which become food for the fish.

Waikalua Loko is believed to be at least 150 years old. Hawaiians have been farming with fishponds for 600 years.

Waikalua Loko's last owner, Henry Wong, sold the pond, already in disrepair, with the surrounding land to Pacific Atlas, a Japan-based developer who also bought the adjacent Bay View Golf Links, Lee said. The society was formed as a result of controversy over the golf course development.

"The way I see it, (the fishpond) has very important value in sustaining life today," Lee said. "The fishpond is like a measure stick of the environment we live today. When the ancient Hawaiians did things, they did it in sync with the environment. We are out of sync today.

"But if we can take care of the fishpond, then we can learn to take care of the environment."

Waikalua Loko fishpond cleanup When: 9 a.m. to noon tomorrow Where: Take Kaneohe Bay Drive toward Kailua, turn left on Puohala Street in front of Castle High School, and turn right on Kulauli Street. Go into the golf course to the end of the road. Veer left onto a dirt-and-gravel road, and follow public access signs to the fishpond. Contact: Herb Lee at 262-3261