Mokauea: Oʻahu's Last Fishing Village

Mokauea is a small island located off the coast of Mauli Ola (Sand Island), Oʻahu that sits in the waters of Keʻehi. The island is known as Oʻahu’s last Hawaiian fishing village. During ancient Hawaiian times, Mokauea was home a very productive fishpond (loko iʻa) but due to western “development”, this loko iʻa was destroyed. Today, a non-traditional fishpond remains on Mokauea that was built in attempts to restore the island. However, the pond was not properly constructed resulting in water circulation issues and eutrophic conditions unsuitable for fish production. Research is now underway to understand the challenges occurring in this loko iʻa and what can be done to address them