World Aquaculture December 2019

16 DECEMBER 2019 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S.ORG in the 1950s (Syzper et al. 2000, Johnston and Purkis 2016). Although the introductions greatly increased the number of available culture species, some also resulted in environmental impacts that continue to influence public perceptions of aquaculture. A turning point came in the 1960s as the potential to use marine resources for food production and alternative energy came to public awareness. The State government and other stakeholders began to make important decisions and investments that continue to make Hawaiʻi an attractive location for aquaculture production and research today. The State’s first aquaculture facility was established in 1959 as the Keehi Bait Station by the Department of Land and Natural Resources. The initial focus was on producing baitfish, including tilapia, for the fishing industry. This station was later renamed as the Anuenue Fisheries Research Center (AFRC) and was moved to Sand Island, Honolulu. Other State facilities such as Hawaiʻi Ocean Science and Technology Park (HOST Park) administered by the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaiʻi Authority (NELHA) in Kailua-Kona and the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (University of Hawaiʻi) followed. The state government took other steps to plan and build capacity for aquaculture expansion by establishing the Aquaculture Development Program (ADP), which implemented the first state aquaculture masterplan in the U.S. (Aquaculture Planning Program 1978), adopted in 1979 by the State Legislature (Ogata 1982). This plan was then updated and expanded in 1993 as “Hawaii’s Future in Aquaculture: Strategy for the Blue Revolution” which described Hawaiʻi’s role in the expansion of global aquaculture (Corbin 2007). The latter publication played a key role in guiding aquaculture development into the 21st Century and much of it is still relevant today. This Plan also recognized that aquaculture research and technology transfer activities were a potentially important economic driver (Corbin 2007). The 1960s and 1970s were a period of intense and coordinated research activity carried out by several institutions, with State and Federal funding, much of which aimed at determining which species D evelopment of Hawaiʻi’s aquaculture industry was influenced early on by several key factors, beginning with the long history of aquatic farming by indigenous Hawaiians prior toWestern contact. The ethnic diversity stemming from immigration, early investment in research and development and the availability of a wide range of species, systems and natural resources made Hawaiʻi a living laboratory for experimentation and innovation. The result today is a vibrant aquaculture landscape combining ancient and new practices. Dozens of animal and plant species have been successfully cultured and new technologies are constantly emerging. Hawaiʻi has a proud history of aquaculture that begins around 1200 A.D. when Hawaiians began building four types of fishponds. Around 488 ponds are estimated to have existed prior to 1788 (DHM 1990). Ponds were managed extensively and were part of larger, integrated food production systems based on watershed management (ahupua`a). The ahupua`a system supported a population of over one million prior toWestern contact. This legacy continues today with the restoration of ancient pond infrastructure and revival of aquaculture production in the ponds (Fig. 1). These historic and cultural treasures serve as a persistent reminder of aquaculture’s potential in the islands and challenge modern aquaculture practitioners, given that the ponds that existed prior to colonization produced an estimated 2 million pounds of fish annually (Kikuchi 1973, Costa-Pierce 1987), far more than modern aquaculture practices produce today. Most of Hawaiʻi’s aquaculture production in the 19th and 20th century continued to be land-based using the ancient fishponds and the traditions of earthen pond aquaculture brought fromAsia. As late as 1901, 430,115 pounds of milkfish ( awa, Chanos chanos ) and 430,115 pounds of striped mullet ( ‘ama’ama, Mugil cephalus ) were harvested annually (Hiatt 1944). Other species such as common carp, grass carp, koi, rainbow trout and Chinese catfish were introduced in the 1800s, followed by a spate of introductions in the 1950s and 1960s of a wide variety of marine and freshwater species for fisheries enhancement and aquaculture. Four species of tilapia were introduced Aquaculture in Hawai‘i – Ancient Traditions, Modern Innovation Maria Haws, Andre P. Seale, John Corbin, Shaun Moss, Chatham Callan, RuthEllen Klinger-Bowen, Brenda Asuncion, Clyde Tamaru, Laurence Sombardier, Ron Weidenbach, PingSun Leung, Neil Anthony Sims, David Cohen and Lei Yamasaki FIGURE 1. The Kahina Pōhaku Hawaiian fishpond at Moanui, Molokai, an example of the kuapā type of Hawaiian fishpond where the stone wall extends into the inter-tidal zone. These ancient ponds have been used for centuries and many are now being restored for aquaculture. Photo: Scott Kanda, courtesy of Ku ʻāina Ulu ‘Auamo.