Loko Ea Fishpond
Hawaiian Fishponds
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Fishponds are a very rich part of Hawaiian history, as they were used to feed the ruling ali'i and the royal court. Smaller fishponds belonged to families and were passed down through generations. Commoners were recruited for fishpond upkeep, and usually didn't take fish, but instead taxes weren't as heavy on their food supply.
Young fish about 4 inches long were captured and put into grow-out ponds clear of predators, and allowed to grow to a size where they wouldn't be subject to predators. They were then put in the fishponds.
Fishponds varied in size; from less than an acre to up to 600 acres, their shape and size depended on the shoreline, coastal reef structure, sand barriers, adjacent land mass, adjoining fishponds, and depressions in nearshore ocean bottom
In the early 1900s, there were 360 loko i'a, 99 active ponds with an estimated annual production of 680,000 pounds of fish, including 486,000 pounds of 'ama'ama and 194,000 pounds of 'awa
Fishpond use started to decline for various reasons, including; money replacing barter as standard of exchange, competition from cheaper imported products, the movement of people from rural to urban areas, and the loss of traditional management skills.
