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Mesmerizing shots of schooling, white-silver ‘anaeholo, traveling mullet, fill the opening scenes of “Kai Piha: Na Loko I‘a (Full Tide: Fishponds),” Ann Marie Kirk’s beautiful new documentary about four Hawaiian fishponds on Oahu where mullet were raised.
“The shots of the fish in the open ocean took forever to get — I’d drop my camera in the water and hope they swam by,” said Kirk, who directed, produced, shot and edited the film — and even wrote its theme song for the mullet, played by Harry Koizumi on slack-key guitar.
The hourlong “Kai Piha: Na Loko I‘a” premieres at 9 p.m. Thursday on PBS Hawai‘i.
Made for the Video Production Section of the Communications Branch of the state Department of Education, it is the second documentary in a series by Kirk that began with “Kai Piha: Ka‘ahele Ma Waikiki.”
The four fishponds portrayed are Kanewai in Kuliouou, at Maunalua Bay; Waikalua in Kaneohe; Huilua in Kahana; and Paaiau in Ewa.
The documentary shows how some fishponds crumbled into ruin when Native Hawaiians were dispossessed of their lands after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, while others were filled in for development as happened at Waikiki, Kakaako and Pearl Harbor.
Now many ponds are being restored, and their histories and meaning are relayed in the film by cultural practitioners, kupuna, educators and volunteers, and through archival and current footage of the rippling ponds, the wide, graceful arcs of their stone walls and their placements along the island’s shores, including awe-inspiring aerial views of entire ahupuaa shot by drones.
We learn from Fred Takebayashi, at Waikalua Loko I‘a, that the world’s first fishpond was built by Ku‘ula Kai at Hana, Maui; Kai’s son ‘Ai‘ai built the first fishpond on Oahu, at Waimanalo.
“How do we get protein on Oahu? The old folks said, ‘Let’s eat fish,’ ” says Lili- kala Kame‘eleihiwa, of the Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, in the film.
A fishpond, she says, could produce 300 to 500 pounds of fish per acre per year, and, as of 1880, there were 114 ponds, producing a million pounds of fish a year, on Oahu alone.
Chris Cramer of Kanewai fishpond recounts how the ponds were built where freshwater flowed into the sea; big schools of mullet would swim through the makaha, or gates, into the pond because they could smell the freshwater, rich with nutrients, while the fresh, circulating water kept parasites off the fish and promoted growth of green limu, the mullet’s food.
Building the ponds, which required so much manpower, also reflected the quality of the community and its leadership, says Brenda Asuncion, KUA Hawaii State Facilitator Hui Malama Loko I‘a.
Surf historian and author John Clark remembers the vast schools of ‘anaeholo that swarmed in the waves off Diamond Head during spawning season, “flying past us, in the thousands, going under us, around us, even over our boards, heading towards Maunalua.”
At Maunalua, in olden times, Papa Joseph Lukela would be waiting at the makaha, lift the gates and the big schools would swim into the pond.
“What I really want people to get is what geniuses our ancestors were,” said Kirk, who grew up in Maunalua. “It’s so scientific and well thought out, and fed our kupuna for 500 years.”
This lively, thoughtful film is a revelation.
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WATCH IT
“Kai Piha: Na Loko I‘a”
Premieres at 9 p.m. Thursday May 20 on PBS Hawai‘i; re-airs at 1 p.m. May 23. Also available to stream on pbshawaii.org, click “programs” and then select “PBS Hawai‘i Presents.”
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