We’re talking about the growing opportunities for communities to formally manage their natural resources and preserve local traditions. We talk with Luna Kekoa from the Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources about Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Areas and when this new designation is the right tool to use.

Many communities, like Hāʻena, on the North Shore of Kauaʻi, are looking to community-based management to provide opportunities for improving social health and resource productivity. The Hāʻena effort is lead by Hui Makaʻainana o Makana—a non profit group that formed in 1998 to care for the Hāʻena watershed and community. The Hui worked with state agencies to establish the first Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area in Hawaiʻi in 2015.

Pelika Andrade, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant extension agent, who has been working with the Hui through her Nā Kilo ʻĀina program and is also a Hui Community Member, talks-story with Hui leaders Presley Wann, Keliʻi Alapaʻi, and Emily Cadiz. Then, Luna shares some of the plans for community management across Hawaiʻi and gives tips for getting involved to take care of coastal resources in your place. (Episode cover photo by Emily Cadiz.)

Watch the trailer for Season 8, Episode 1 on Vimeo or on YouTube.