Dredging to begin as Haleiwa fishpond set for restoration

The Malama Loko Ea Foundation is scheduled today to begin dredging of Haleiwa’s historic Loko Ea fishpond in what will be the final step in its restoration process.

The 400-year-old fishpond has been in a state of neglect for the past 40 to 50 years, said Rae DeCoito, the foundation’s executive director. Once the restoration is complete, she envisions the fishpond as a sustainable food source for the community and its future generations.

“With all of the food challenges that the islands have and climate change issues, bringing back this traditional wisdom is more important than ever,” DeCoito said.

Traditionally, almost every ahupuaa (land segment) would include a fishpond, she said.

“And then there was the agriculture and forestry, and everybody just traded and bartered amongst themselves in that land segment,” DeCoito said. “It’s a very, very sustainable way to manage natural resources.”

The Loko Ea fishpond is owned by Kamehameha Schools, and in 2008 the community requested access to the pond to find ways to reconnect it to its original purpose, she said.

Two men, James Estores and Benson Lee, led this charge, and about six months later Kamehameha Schools suggested the creation of a nonprofit to fund the community’s efforts. The two men took on the challenge and cofounded the MLEF together.

“These gentlemen were kind of mentored by local kupuna from the area, and they gave them their blessing,” DeCoito said. “One of the things that we understand is that they said, ‘What you’re learning is not knowledge for yourself. It needs to be passed on.’”

MLEF has implemented volunteer days twice a month in the hopes to do just that, DeCoito added.

“We invite and encourage the local community to come to our workdays and learn about how to manage and maintain a fishpond,” she said. “There were always caretakers, but the community always took part in managing these sites in the past.”

DeCoito estimates that more than 45,000 volunteers already have helped to manually remove invasive species and grasses from the area over the past 13 years.

Other renovations to the pond will include removing 15,000 cubic yards of sediment from the 8-acre pond, deepening it to about 4 to 5 feet deep and establishing a reliable freshwater source, DeCoito said. Like most other fishponds undergoing restorations, its rock walls also will need to be built about 4 feet higher than normal to account for rising sea levels.

The biggest challenge throughout the process likely will be funding, DeCoito said. She estimates that costs eventually will total about $3.7 million.

“It’s extremely hard work,” she said. “It’s needed a lot of repairs for it to become functional.”

Additionally, fishponds aren’t usually profitable operations, making it more suited to be run by a nonprofit like MLEF, DeCoito said.

DeCoito also plans to eventually restore and reconnect Uko‘a fishpond, which is about 1.5 miles mauka from Loko Ea.

“That is our source of fresh water,” she said. “The restoration will not be complete until both ponds are reconnected and it’s much bigger.”

Once Loko Ea is restored, it is expected to produce about 4,000 pounds of fresh fish per year, according to MLEF’s news release.

Throughout the restoration process, more than 6,000 learners from various educational programs visit regularly to learn about the fishpond, DeCoito said. She also cited state Department of Land and Natural Resources research that identified nearly 200 fishponds in the state as having potential for restoration.

DeCoito hopes Loko Ea will inspire other communities to take similar action in restoring their local fishponds and creating sustainable food sources as it is rebuilt and sustained for future generations.

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Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.