Can An Ancient Hawaiian Fishpond Turn A Profit?
This Civil Beat feature examines Kauai Sea Farm's effort to demonstrate that restoration of a traditional Hawaiian fishpond can support a sustainable commercial aquaculture operation.
Nōmilu Fishpond has been stewarded by generations of the same Hawaiian family since Philip Palama acquired the property more than a century ago. Lynn Maile Taylor and Thayne Taylor began developing a shellfish operation at Nōmilu in the late 1980s.
Hurricane Iniki devastated Kauaʻi in 1992, filling critical seawater channels with debris. The pond remained stagnant for more than two decades as water quality deteriorated and invasive mangrove spread. Later restoration work cleared the channels and allowed the fishpond ecosystem to recover.
Civil Beat describes the renewed Kauai Sea Farm as an unusual model: using commercial aquaculture to help provide the continuing financial support necessary to preserve and maintain Nōmilu Fishpond for future generations.
Publication: Honolulu Civil Beat, June 9, 2022