Before Westerners arrived in Hawai`i, the native people lived a life of self-subsistance and harmony with the land and sea. Early Hawaiians understood that by caring for the land and sea, they too, would be cared for by the land and sea. A great example of this is a native Hawaiian fishpond.

Fishponds were great examples of early ingenuity amongst a native people. Hawaiians studied the tides, moon, and sun and realized that they could harvest fish within a confined area. Similar to fishtraps in other areas of Polynesia, fishponds used the same idea of taking advantage of natural phenomenons to their advantage.

Basically, a fishpond consists of a wall and a sluice gate. For a loko kuapa type of fishpond, the wall was made of boulders and stones of all sizes and was known as the kuapa. A sluice gate or makaha was placed at precise locations where currents occurred.

By studying nature, Hawaiians understood that fish would gather in areas of current. Going with the ebb and flow of the fishpond's water, Hawaiians were able to lure fish near the makaha. Small fish were able to enter the small slats of the makaha while larger fish were prevented from escaping. The design is ingenious!