Community-based management of fisheries by Kua’aina Ulu Auamo (KUA), Hawai’i

The organization and local perspectives on conservation and stewardship

KUA works on community based fishery issues primarily through the community of practice working group of E Alu Pū (KUA’s founding network) called the Lawai’a Pono Hui. Lawaiʻa Pono is to ʻfish virtuouslyʻ; to fish in a Hawaiian way; to fish sensibly and responsibly with respect to each otherʻs needs and in reverence and obligation to the oceanʻs power and live-giving nature to sustain us now and into the future. The Hui is primarily made up of Native Hawaiian and rural community fishery groups and leaders. A primary focus of the Hui is supporting subsistence fishing and community-based fishery management. A policy vehicle of focus for their work is the community-based subsistence fishing area law which they helped create and advocate for. The foundation for the work is a cultural connection, ancestral imperative and value of aloha ʻāina (love for that which feeds), grounded in place-based traditional and ecological knowledge and practices.

Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo (KUA) means “grassroots growing through shared kuleana (responsibility)” the acronym KUA means back, like a backbone or foundational structure. KUA, called into creation in 2011 by a statewide network of over 30 grassroots indigenous and local community based natural resource management groups, called E Alu Pū (“move forward together”), works to empower communities to improve their quality of life through caring for their environmental heritage together to better Hawaiʻi and achieve ‘āina momona— an abundant, productive ecological system that supports community well-being.

Stewardship experience: Support of community-based subsistence fishing area efforts

The issue or problem being addressed

The Lawai’a Pono Hui founded a law that allows subsistence communities to co-manage their fisheries based on the traditional and customary practices of their area. This law – Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes 188-22.6 – is called the community-based subsistence fishing area (CBSFA) law. Along the way the Hui supported other community driven fishery management initiatives. Its taken almost three decades of advocacy and community persistence to officially designate and implement rules for an area. The E Alu Pū Network and the Lawaiʻa Pono Hui were collectively able to support the first successful effort in Hā’ena, North Kaua’i, in 2015. Since then three other efforts are now in the state’s “queue” for administrative rulemaking.

 

The activities

Communities are allowed to co-manage and develop rules based on their place-based traditions, in collaboration with the state. Community networks meet as large groups annually and develop communities of practice and working groups around subject matters like fishery management. Focus groups meet regularly or strategically as needed. They discuss and share successes and frustrations, cultural and fishery management practices and identify smaller gathering efforts of subject matter regarding stewardship and indigenous and local knowledge. When commonly agreed issues or themes are found KUA work with them to build capacity around seeing it through.

 

The benefits/impacts including sustainability/environmental effects

Policy and culture wise the work is beginning to see results. The first CBSFA and an FMA (Fisheries Management Area) rest area are only beginning to undergo their reviews but the preliminary analysis regarding things like biomass have been positive. An ultimate goal is to restore, protect and bolster Native Hawaiian place-based practice and knowledge, and environment and community self-governance through nearshore marine management. Some of the results are slow and some are immediate, such as when you see a renewed sense of empowerment, careful stewardship and sense of community return to a place.  

 

The success and significance of the activities

KUA was created around a desire to share practices and build community capacity for fishery stewardship together. The organizational mechanism they created helps them empower each other, mobilize, enhance and elevate their collective voice and impact across the state. The State of Hawaiʻi, in 2016, became the first U.S. state to adopt a 30×30 marine initiative (effectively manage 30% of Hawaiʻi nearshore areas by 2030) in part based on community efforts and advocacy. In Hawaiʻi 30×30 marine goals cannot be reached without the input and cooperation of rural and Native Hawaiian fishing communities. To date, of 58 currently designated marine areas (6% of 30%) only one has a management plan; the Hāʻena CBSFA. However, all CBSFA efforts that await administrative rule-making have draft management plans as well.

 

Some lessons learned or words of wisdom 

Build capacity to coordinate and network members, practice humility and good communication, adapt, anticipate and leverage strategic opportunities. Find space for fun, have patience and recognize progress when you see it. Celebrate why you do the work in the first place; eat fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fishery Facts

(Below are the applicable categories of fisheries, environment, species, gear type and livelihood role.)

Fishery characteristics:

• Subsistence fishery
• Multi-species 

The environment where fishing takes place: 

• Open Ocean
• Coastal – Estuarine / Nearshore / Coral / Mangrove

Main species targeted:

• Marine – Small pelagics (finfish) – e.g. reef fishes/herring/mackerel/sardines
• Inland finfish – e.g. carp/perch/catfish/salmonids
• Molluscs (including bivalves and cephalopods – e.g. octopus/clams)
• Crustaceans (e.g. shrimp/prawn/lobster)
• Other animals (e.g. jellyfish/sea cucumber)
• Algae or seaweed and other aquatic plants 

Gear types/ methods used:

• Purse seine
• Line
• Dive
• Beach harvest/gleaning (e.g. collection of shellfish/algae/mangrove crabs etc.)
• Other traditional methods.

Role of the fishery in local livelihoods:

• Secondary/supplementary source of employment
• Seasonal
• Occasional

For additional information, visit some of the links below:

KUA’s website: kuahawaii.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KUAhawaii

Twitter: @kuahawaii

Instagram: @kuaainauluauamo

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/kuahawaii

Hawaiʻi’s first Community-based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA) is co-managed with the Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana: https://www.huimakaainanaomakana.org/fisheries

Ongoing CBSFA efforts include:

Moʻomomi, Molokaʻi (led by the Hui Mālama o Moʻomomi): Miloliʻi Hawaiʻi Island (led by Kalanihale): https://www.kalanihale.com/cbsfa

Kīpahulu, Maui (led by the Kīpahulu ʻOhana): https://kipahulu.org/whatwedo/malamaikekai/cbsfa/

Additional community fishery management efforts:

Kaʻūpūlehu, Hawaiʻi: Fishery Management Rest Area (led by the Kaʻūpūlehu Marine Life Advisory Council/KMLAC: https://www.facebook.com/KMLAC/

Pūpūkea, Oʻahu Marine Life Conservation Dicstrict (led by Mālama Pūpūkea Waimea): http://pupukeawaimea.org/pupukea-waimea-mcld/