Re-envisioning Fisheries Research and Management through ʻĀina Momona

As a founding member of Nā Maka Onaona and science lead on the intertidal monitoring research over the past 16 years, I co-developed an ʻĀina Momona Research Framework with Pelika Andrade to develop an adaptive intertidal fisheries model. This framework represents the evolution of our intertidal research, weaving ʻŌiwi knowledge systems, Western scientific tools, and community expertise to evolve research questions and management action.

This framework is built upon:

ʻŌiwi Knowledge Systems – Huli ʻia as a kilo (ʻŌiwi scientific process) and generational expertise passed through ʻike kūpuna (ancestral knowledge)
Kaiāulu (Community) Engagement through Nā Kilo ʻĀina – The Nā Kilo ʻĀina framework integrates ʻŌiwi observational and inquiry-based methodologies, grounding research in the process of first building pilina (relationships) between people and place within communities (Morishige et al. 2018)
ʻĀina Momona: Healthy and Thriving Communities of People and Place – Recognizing that marine management must prioritize abundance, not just prevent depletion (Andrade et al., 2022)
ʻOpihi Management Plan as an Adaptive Model for Coastal Fisheries – Implementing strategies such as spatial-temporal management, seasonal harvesting, and size limits and a monitoring regime through partnerships with Hui Kahuwai Marine Life Advisory Committee and UH Hilo MEGA lab mapping intertidal habitat using 3D models.

Biocultural Seascapes: Managing Fisheries Through Ancestral Relationships

Our research reaffirms a fundamental truth: The most productive systems are not those left untouched, but those that are actively managed and stewarded. There are also other examples of ancestral knowledge and living practices where our kūpuna (ancestors) understood that ʻāina has function—each space in our environment serves a purpose, whether for cultivation, rest, or regeneration.

My experiences come from working alongside our ʻŌiwi communities in Hawaiʻi conducting community-based coastal research to managing the Native Hawaiian Program for NOAA Papahānaumokuākea. There are many lessons to learn from what meaningful inclusion and visioning of ocean protection led by ʻŌiwi communities should look like in every aspect of research, policy, management, and education embedded in local-scale to large-scale ocean protection.

Papahānaumokuākea is a UNESCO Mixed Natural and Cultural World Heritage Site and Marine National Monument, and one of the world’s largest marine protected areas. But what sets it apart is that it is not just a conservation zone—it is a biocultural seascape governed through Kānaka ʻŌiwi knowledge systems, values, and practices demonstrated in Mai Ka Pō Mai. For more than 20 years, the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group (CWG) is composed of Native Hawaiians who have deep connections and historical ties to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Marine Monument through a living pilina (relationship) bound by genealogy, cultural protocol, research, and stewardship.

Papahānaumokuāskea is a world-class model of biocultural governance built through meaningful engagement with Native Hawaiian experts, leaders, and communities as part of its foundation and structure. It challenges dominant Western narratives about Indigenous co-management through demonstrating that marine protected areas are not passive reserves, but places where ancestors remind us of our kuleana to protect, learn from, and perpetuate ancestral practices that define protection and access in Papahānaumokuākea. The moʻokūʻauhau (genealogy) of Papahānaumokuākea reflects a deep kuleana many people have felt to care for this ʻāina akua (realm of the gods) through long-standing co-management partnerships among the State of Hawaiʻi, NOAA Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Sanctuary, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and NOAA Fisheries.

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