Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 7, 1 July 2014 — ON LĀNAʻI, GROWING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ON LĀNAʻI, GROWING

With buy-in from the island's new ownerr a former fisherman ^ works to restore seaweed I

to its former glory g j

GcurēE ^a/mem&ki Courtesy photos: Robin Kaye forthe Lāna'i Limu Restoration Project

^^1 tanding on the windswept sandy shoreline in the Maunalei Ahupua'a ^%on the windward coast of Lāna'i, v W Allen Kaiaokamalie looks out toward the oeean and dreams of limu. As a young fisherman growing up in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he remembers limu as far as the eye could see. Today, from a bluff overlooking the area, you ean see a mueh different story. Mueh of the nearshore waters appear dyed rust brown, the result of years of erosion. Mueh of the edible limu is gone now because of the runoff and the growth of the turtle

population that feeds on the limu. But, as Kaiaokamalie looks out from the shoreline, he visualizes his dream coming true.

"I was a fisherman all my life," Kaiaokamalie says, "all I did was take, take, take so when I retired I figured I wanted to give something back." But why limu?

"I'm not smart like you guys," he says with a ehuekle. "I just figured the easy way is growing something and planting back in the oeean." Easy, however, often isn't as it appears.

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A ln the inilial stages of the project, the group is working with the endemic ogo, pictured, and native huluhuluwaena, or Grateloupia filicina. 0go, one of the most popular edible seaweeds in Hawai'i, is known scientifically as Gracilaria parvispora. - Photo: Arna Johnson

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Backyard beginnings In early Hawai'i, limu farming and harvesting were traditional and customary practices andpart of food sustainability. Today, those same practices are not followed. The Lāna'i Limu Restoration Project is the result of Kaiaokamalie's hard work. He started in 55-gallon drums in his backyard three years ago and moved to an area next to the shoreline. "I just made up my mind, I cannot haul water anymore," he said. "We always eame down here fishing and camping and ... I said, hey, maybe I ean elean up an area over here and start planning the limu." He had some success, but project volunteer Robin Kaye said there were many challenges. They started to grow the limu in a cage offshore. "We had success with every different method

we tried, but it was limited and it was a real challenge to overcome the predators." Kaye said. "There was one occasion where we had the limu that we put overnight that we'd gotten from Honolulu. We put it in the enclosure and when we eame back it was gone as a elump so we knew it was a human who had taken it." The other challenge was the project didn't exactly have permission to be on the land. The land had been owned by Castle and Cooke but had since been purchased by billionaire Larry Ellison. Kaiaokamalie and Kaye decided it was time to pay a visit to the new owner and formally ask permission to be on the land. They approached Kurt Matsumoto, chief operating officer of landowner Pūlama Lāna'i. Kaye said, "He listened and listened and listened and then he said: 'You know what? We'U do it. But let's make it bigger.'" "Oh man that was the best thing. We were really surprised," said Kaiaokamalie. Partnership with Pūlama Lāna'i Pūlama Lāna'i committed to building a well with solar power generators to pump water into eight limu tanks so they could eulture the limu away from the open oeean, where it is vulnerable to people and predators. The company swooped in and cleared some of the kiawe and plans to build a traditional hale to serve as an area for education. "And we knew from that point: Kurt, the COO, had told his folks, Unele Allen's limu project is going to work (and to) do what they need. So there was never a question of budget or process. It was, What do you need? OK, you need eight ponds, OK we'll put

them there. You want a composting toilet? Over there," said Kaye. The only stipulations: the limu not to be grown for commercial purposes, and the puhlie facilities like the toilet or the hale will be open to the puhlie, so if a visitor wants to eome, use the facilities and learn about the limu and conservation, they would be weleome. Conditions Kaiaokamalie and Kaye were more than happy to accept.

Gift for the next generation

On this day, Kaiaokamalie and Kaye are talking to some guests, among them Office of Hawaiian

Affairs Chairperson Colette Machado. Kaiaokamalie is showing Maui County guidelines for building a traditional hale up to code. It's a building that will be used for educational activities. They are discussing their effort to work closely with Lāna'i High and Elementary School to provide hands-on experience for 10 high school and 40 middle school students and how well the students take to the project. As Machado looks over the plans, she says the gift from Pūlama Lāna'i is the gift of education for the next generation. "That's a commitment to you, Unele, as a Hawaiian," Machado said. "I think that they see the value of restoring the shoreline because you're a Hawaiian and you have a vision of how you're raised up here to do that work out there. So I'd like to think that was their commitment when they listened

to what you were doing and the benefit of having you lead as the kupuna in this area."

Kaiaokamalie agrees that his limu project has evolved. Where onee it was about the restoration of the

limu, now, he says, "It's for the kids more." I

Preparing limu for plaeemenl , on the stones, whieh will be replanted in i the oeean.

Unele Wally lto, left, and Kaiaokamalie examine limu during one of lto's visits to the Lāna'i Limu Restoration Project.

Unele Allen Kaiaokamalie uses a refractometer to measure srilinil^ of well water.