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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, August 19, 2001

Students put fishponds first

By Jean Chow
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sixteen concerned residents of Moloka'i are pulling together in hopes of restoring the ancient fishponds on their island and returning balance to the give-and-take system.

Moloka'i student Kalola Kalima cleans an awa tank at the Oceanic Institute using a technique called "bottom siphoning," which removes debris, feces and dead fish.

Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Restoration work has been going on for three years, and now the 16, all aquaculture enthusiasts, are traveling to O'ahu to participate in a specialized training program to further their fish-raising skills. The month-long training, which began last week, focuses on raising awa, or milkfish, from the hatching stage to the harvesting stage.

Once the program is complete, the students will be able to take back to Moloka'i a percentage of the fish they raised.

"Our oceans are depleting (of fish). Our kupuna knew that, so they built the fishponds, but they weren't taken care of," said student Mike Weeks. "(People in the past) just harvested all the time. This generation is learning how to put the fish back in the ponds."

About five students at a time will train at the Oceanic Institute in Waimanalo, learning a different phase of the awa-raising process. Each week, other students will replace some of the old students; one or two students from the previous week will remain.

The students are farmers from the Moloka'i Fishpond Operators Program and participants of the Ho'ikaika Project, an island-wide job-training program for 15 through 21-year-olds, financed by a federal Youth Opportunity Grant.

Together, they have been working to restore and reutilize the fishponds that long ago dried out or filled up with rocks and debris.

"We take everything down and then put everything back up," Weeks said.

Once the ponds become usable again, he and the other students hope to fill them with fish and put their newly learned skills to use.

Last week's students were quickly familiarized with the awa hatchery.

"We just dive right in and show them how to do different techniques, such as how and what to feed (the awa) when they are still larvae," said Chris Demarke, lead instructor at Oceanic Institute.

Brandon Lima counts fish eggs in a pipette at the Oceanic Institute. Lima is a farmer with the Moloka'i Fishpond Operators Program.

Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

He said both the larvae and live feed, which are microscopic, must be counted and sorted daily, a task last week's students learned and performed. The tanks in which the larvae and feed reside — circular tanks that are several feet in height and diameter — must also be carefully cleaned each day.

"I've learned that patience really is a virtue," said Kalola Kalima, 19. "Everything we do here takes a lot of time and concentration."

But Kalima remains undaunted and said the workday actually flies by. "We're kept busy all day."

Yaisha Withers, 19, said she likes what they're doing.

"(Our group is) now learning just the beginning part of raising awa," she said. "When (the program) is done, we'll all put our notes together and learn the whole cycle."

In the coming weeks, the next students will learn about the "harvest and nursery phase and then the packing and shipping process," Demarke said.

"We're doing hands-on, practical training — before, we would just ship some fingerlings, or juvenile fish, to Moloka'i and they'd raise them from then on. Now, besides getting the fish, they're also getting the training for the whole process," he said.

While the students agree that they are learning a lot of technical skills, they feel most strongly about the sense of responsibility they share, and hope others will adopt the same philosophy.

"If we help the fish now, later on they'll help us," said Moana Manintin, 18. "We're keeping the Hawaiian culture going."