Hawaii Fish Pond Fishery - MMPA List of Fisheries

U.S. fisheries are classified under the Marine Mammal Protection Act according to the level of incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals.

Pacific Islands

Current Classification on the List of Fisheries

Category	III
Estimated Number of Participants	None recorded
Target Species	Includes opelu, akule, moana, weke ula, menpachi, nabeta, etc.
Applicable Take Reduction Plans	None
Observer Coverage	Not observed
Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured	None Documented

^ Number of participants estimates are based on state and federal fisheries permit data. The estimated number of participants is expressed in terms of the number of active participants in the fishery, when possible. If this information is not available, the estimated number of vessels or persons licensed for a particular fishery is provided. If no recent information is available on the number of participants, then the number from the most recent LOF is used. NOAA Fisheries acknowledges that, in some cases, these estimations may be inflating actual effort.

*Observer coverage levels include the latest information reported in the most current final Stock Assessment Report (SAR).

¹ Indicates the stock or species is driving the classification of the fishery.

Basis for Current Classification

There are no known incidental mortalities or serious injuries of marine mammals in this fishery, and there is a remote likelihood of marine mammal interactions because this is a culture fishery, not a capture fishery, and does not involve fishing gear that might hook or entangle a marine mammal.

Distribution

Hawaii state waters, nearshore.

Gear Description

Enclosed or semi-enclosed coastal body of water used for fish culture. Ponds may include a stone wall structure which extends into the ocean and/or some type(s) of makaha (gate) which allows fish to enter and leave the pond. Fish ponds are stocked periodically, typically by fishing for pua (juvenile striped mullet) in shoreline areas and/or fish entering through the makaha (or other gaps in the fishpond wall) on incoming tides.

Management

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources/ Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) requires an aquaculture facility license for fish pond owners or operators to take regulated marine life including young mullet from the ocean or to acquire regulated marine life from non-ocean sources to stock their pond or facility with the intention of raising the marine life for commercial purposes. DAR collected harvest reports from pond operators until October 2002, when the commercial fish reports were revised. The Aquaculture Development Program under the State Department of Agriculture now surveys the markets to obtain the pond operator harvest information.

Historical Information

Original Category (Year added to the LOF)	III (1996)
Original Number of Participants	10
Basis for Original Classification	Listed as Category III because the fishery was expected to have a remote likelihood of incidental serious injury or mortality of marine mammals. No observer, logbook, or stranding data were available.
Past Names	None
Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list)	N/A

Timeline of Changes

2022	Estimated number of participants updated from 5 to none recorded.
2015	Estimated number of participants decreased from 16 to 5.
2012	Estimated number of participants increased from N/A to 16.
2006	Estimated number of participants decreased from 10 to N/A. The rule noted that the fishery is no longer in operation but may be in the future, so the fishery was retained on the LOF.