What is a CBSFA, and why Hā‘ena?

From “Community-based Management Proposal for the Hā‘ena Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area, Kaua‘I” Submitted by the Hā‘ena Fisheries Committee, June 1, 2011.

“The best way to understand CBSFA designation is through the lens of the Hawaiian value of aloha ‘āina, which emphasizes the connection between the environment and communities, whereby if you care for the environment, the environment will care for you. CBSFAs represent an agency-recognized avenue for local community groups to mālama i ke kai (take care of the ocean) by proposing management measures informed by traditional and customary fishing and management practices that were integral to sustaining the health and abundance of marine resources for generations in the Hawaiian Islands. In this way, CBSFA designation represents a collaborative co-management approach to fisheries management that is place-based, community driven, and culturally rooted.

“During interviews with cultural historian Kepa Maly, ten kūpuna (elders) from Hā‘ena noted a decline in quality and abundance of fish. Many felt that the changes were caused by the loss of the konohiki (overseer) system and kapu (laws) that once governed the fishery, which has led to people taking more than they need, in addition to recreational overuse, coastal development, and pollution. The Legislature similarly recognized the importance of Hā‘ena’s ocean waters as an important subsistence fishery area, and that there has been “adverse impact to the fish stocks and the integrity of coral reef habitats in the area” as a result of the “influx of visitors and a growing problem of indiscriminate fishing” (Act 241 SLH 2006).

To restore the fishery, fishermen interviewed remembered and recommended a return to traditional ethics and practices such as these:

• Don’t disturb the fish in their home: Fish return to certain areas on certain tides to eat. Fishermen should recognize these patterns and avoid disturbing them. Places of feeding, resting, and spawning need should be disrupted as little as possible so the fish will continue to come and to feel at home.
• What happens on the land affects what happens in the ocean. The entire watershed, from the mountains to the sea, need to be managed as one.
• Fish have ears, so one shouldn’t talk about going fishing. One should not take too much fish, or the fish will stop coming to your nets. The first fish should be thrown back or given as an offering of thanks.
• Fish only without your ahupua‘a. People fished only in their own ahupua‘a, or in neighboring ahupua‘a if they had familial ties there. You could fish in a different ahupua‘a if you went with someone from there or received direct permission to do
  so.
• Don’t take more than you need.
• Share what you catch with others.
• Impose and enforce strict laws. Breaking the kapu had severe consequences.

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