Fishing | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

We need to be honest with others and ourselves – and face reality. The marine resources surrounding Hawai‘i are on a decline – and have been for quite some time.

A scientific report notes, “The total biomass of reef fishes in the Main Hawaiian Islands is less than a quarter of what it was a century ago.”

If we do not change the way we use our nearshore reefs, fisheries and marine resources, there is no reason to expect the decline to stop.

There are many threats and impacts to the marine resources, including: Invasive Species, Sedimentation and Run-off, Pollution and Nutrients, Marine Debris, Recreational Use, Coastal Development, Weather (i.e. hurricanes, global warming, etc) and Fishing.

The Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council (WESPAC – one of eight regional fishery management councils) is composed of 16-members members and is the policy-making organization for the management of fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ – generally 3- to 200-miles offshore) of member US interests.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is the guiding document for fisheries management actions. In it are “National Standards.”

The first National Standard states that any fishery management plan, its rules, and conservation and management measures shall prevent overfishing.

The eight Regional Councils develop management plans for marine fisheries in waters seaward of state waters of their individual regions.

Management includes areas around the State of Hawai‘i, Territory of American Samoa, Territory of Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and US Pacific island possessions, an area of nearly 1.5 million square miles.

Plans and specific management measures (such as fishing seasons, quotas and closed areas) are developed. These plans and measures are implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

I am very concerned about purported “management” of our marine resources – particularly, the stated goal of “sustainable fishery management plans” that have proven to be insufficient to sustain the fisheries.

Here’s what’s happening with some of the managed species:
• Big Eye Tuna – NOAA Fisheries announced in June 2004 that overfishing was occurring – it continues
• Yellowfin Tuna – The 2006 assessment results indicated overfishing is occurring – it continues
• NWHI lobster fishery – NOAA Fisheries declared an emergency closure in 2000
• North Pacific albacore – the stock is considered fully exploited
• Southwest Pacific Swordfish – Since 1997, catch rates and mean size have been declining
• Striped Marlin in the Southwest Pacific – levels of fishing mortality may exceed the maximum sustainable yield
• Bottomfish – In May 2005, NOAA Fisheries determined that over-fishing is occurring in the Main Hawaiian Islands – it continues
• Black Coral – Due to the reduction in large colonies the minimum size of harvested colonies was raised
• Swordfish – NOAA periodically halted longline in 2006 and 2011 because of too many endangered sea turtle interactions
(Overfishing means the rate at which a species is being harvested is greater than it can sustain itself.)

Obviously, we need to do things differently.

The decline in marine resources has an enormous impact on local, subsistence and recreational fishermen, and coastal fishing communities statewide.

I was honored when President George W. Bush appointed me to serve as one of the five United States Commissioners to represent the United States’ interests on the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC – an international fisheries Commission.)

It was interesting to see how fisheries management measures are complicated by unrelated treaties and relationships between the countries. The good news is there are attempts to resolve the differences.

Likewise, I was honored to serve as a member of WESPAC – initially, as a representative for the State of Hawai‘i, then, a term as an at-large member on the Council.

However, I was mostly frustrated while serving on WESPAC – too often, it looked like decisions were made for the benefit of short-term fish harvesting, rather than long-term fisheries sustainability.

I hope in the future WESPAC more-fully addresses its obligations and opportunities to prevent overfishing and protect the resources for future generations.

We all need to work together to protect the resources – resource managers, fishers, environmentalists, scientists and community.

But we’ve got to face reality and do things differently – for the resources – otherwise, there won’t be Fish for the Future.

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The ancient Hawaiians made use of a considerable range of fiber plants. Some of these they brought with them; others were discovered in the new island home.

Naturally available to the Hawaiians were a variety of vines, grasses, and tree barks that could be used as cord with little or no modification, but they found that, with a bit more effort, they could produce string, twine, or rope that was easier to handle and lasted a longer time.

First among the Hawaiians’ cordage resources, however, was an endemic forest plant, olonā. Its excellence made olonā cordage a highly valued item, not only among the Hawaiians themselves but also, later, among Western sailors, and its virtues enabled Hawaiians to create some of the finest pre-contact handcraft in the Pacific. (Abbott)

“Olonā was a thing highly prized by one and all. It was very valuable and planters raised it extensively. … There were, however, few places where olonā would grow and hence, not all people cultivated.”

The ancient Hawaiians undoubtedly discovered the valuable fiber of this plant at a very early time. They were intimately familiar with the local flora and its economic utilization. The olonā is mentioned in many of the old songs and legends.

“It grew in rainy districts and in marsh lands and in those parts of the mountain which were saturated with moisture; it did not grow on bare mountain sides but on those ridges where bananas grew and water ran constantly and where there was plenty of moisture. It throve on the windward side of the islands and few places besides.”

“When people in old days planted olonā they first looked for a good place in the mountains to plant, a valley where it was fertile and flat, perhaps below a cliff in the bed of a stream.”

“Here they cut down the pulu ferns, chopped down the trees and cleared out the weeds. The planting was done like the planting of the wauke from the young shoots or cuttings from the ground stem.”

“A field of olonā that grew uniformly with every stalk and every leaf alike was the planter’s delight, and if it grew on a level, two or three acres or more of it, his joy knew no bounds. It all grew up like the hairs on the head, with straight stalks and rounded leaves. In a year or more it was full-grown and the leaves began to turn yellow.” (Kamakau; Bishop Museum)

Special interest is attached to the olonā fiber as it is generally recognized to be the strongest and most durable fiber in the world. No other fiber is recorded to exceed it in these two important characteristics.

This fiber is the best of all fibers known at the present time. The three dominant features are (1) the great tensile strength (about three times the strength of commercial Manila – about eight times as strong as hemp;) (2) its great resistance to deterioration in salt water; and (3) its pliability, and thus its adaptability for spinning by hand.

Among the Hawaiians it was put to a great variety of uses. All fishing lines and nets of the best quality were invariably made of olonā, because of its high resistance to the action of salt water. (MacCaughey, 1918)

Fishing lines and nets made from this fiber by expert Hawaiians present an appearance of so uniform a caliber and twist that it would lead one to believe that the fiber had been made by the most intricate machinery.

Olonā lines and nets which have been in more or less constant use for over a century are almost as good as new, and are handed down from generation to generation as precious objects. Most of the natives are very unwilling to part with any of their fishing gear that is made of olonā.

The very serviceable carrying-nets, koho, in which the wooden calabashes and other objects were borne, were commonly made of olonā fiber. Olonā was not used for making the bark-cloth or kapa itself, but threads and cords of olonā were used for sewing the kapa.

A stout cord of olonā was usually attached to the wooden war-clubs and dagger-like swords, for suspending the weapon from the wrist. This prevented the loss of the weapon during the fray. For fastening the stone adz, ‘o‘o, to its wooden handle, olonā was always the preferred fiber.

It was used for the very fine and pliable netting which served as a groundwork for the feathers, in the construction of the splendid garments and insignia of the ancient royalty and ali‘i. The brilliant scarlet and yellow feathers were skillfully woven by the women upon the imperishable framework of olonā. (MacCaughey, 1918)

“Olonā is so universally the basis of Hawaiian feather cloaks, that feathers mounted on any other substance would be at once classed as foreign to the group.” The fineness of the net varies as does the size of the thread used for cloaks.

In featherwork, feathers are mounted and tied with olonā cordage to nets made of well twisted, closely netted olonā. Feathers are inserted in rows and bound by two or three turns of the olonā threads. (Brigham)

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