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 Research Projects 2024-2026

Effects of loko iʻa (fishpond) restoration on ecosystem dynamics in Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Lisa McManus
Co-INVESTIGATORS: Elizabeth Madin, Yoshimi Rii, Kawika Winter, Anne Innes-Gold
Research Track: Aquaculture

Aerial view of an ahupuaʻa, from the coral reefs on the edge of the bay, an encircled, sediment-laden fishpond, coastal flats with forested and open green spaces, and rising foothills of a steep pali cliff.
Restoration of Heʻeia loko iʻa plays an important traditional role in the well-being of the local people, but also demonstrates how a functional fishpond may influence the surrounding ecosystems. (Photo: NOAA)

Loko i‘a (traditional Hawaiian fishponds) once played a large role in an integrated agroecology system. Historically, loko i‘a were used to trap and raise fish; they were designed to encourage growth of limu and algae which would feed herbivorous fish populations. Loko i‘a in pre-contact Hawai‘i may have yielded around 2 million pounds of fish per year, while present-day local aquaculture efforts supply only about 20,000 pounds of seafood per year. A recent push for loko i‘a restoration could significantly increase the amount of local seafood available, both by creating a surplus of fish inside the ponds and potential ‘spillover’ effects to supplement estuary fish stocks. However, there are also challenges, including, in particular, global warming, which may impede restoration efforts by decreasing the yield of historically and ecologically important ecosystems and their services. This research aims to evaluate the impacts of loko i‘a restoration on ecosystem dynamics in Kāneʻohe Bay, O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, under conditions of global warming.

The research team will test how well loko i‘a restoration can supplement fish populations  and fisheries harvests within fishponds and in surrounding estuary and bay waters (ʻamaʻama or striped mullet, in particular). Through modelling, they will explore the possible impacts of global warming by projecting ecosystem dynamics under multiple severity scenarios. Results will be shared with local non-profits Paepae o He‘eia and Hui Mālama Loko I‘a and at a national level with managers and other researchers to facilitate reciprocal knowledge sharing.