Ko'ie'ie Fishpond - Kihei, HI
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 20° 45.857 W 156° 27.564
4Q E 764519 N 2298140
This site is adjacent to theHawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Education Center on Maui. These are still in use along the shores of the island today. This historic site will be undergoing restoration.
Waymark Code: WMDTKE
Location: Hawaii, United States
Date Posted: 02/23/2012
Views: 4
This small bay is an ancient Hawaiian fishpond, formed by
the rock wall that stretches along the outer edge of the bay.
Ko'ie'ie Fishpond
Along The Seaward side of the wall
was a wooden sluice gate (makaha).
At high tide, the ocean waters surged through
the gate into the pond; at low tide, the water receded.
This flushing action may be how the pond got its name, Ko'ie'ie,
which means "rapid current of rushing water." The narrow slats
in the gate allowed young fish to enter from the ocean, but kept
the larger, mature fish captured inside.
The wall of Ko'ie'ie Fishpond
was once several yards wide
and rose above the highest tide level.
Although damaged by the pounding
of the sea, it survives as a monument to
Hawaiian engineering. Hawaiians built ponds
like this to raise and harvest fish for food.
Ko'ie'ie covers over six acres and produced
over 2,000 pounds of fish a year.
Hawaiian traditions say that Ko'ie'ie was
built during the time of 'Umi, a ruling chief
of the island of Hawai'i in the late 1500s. About
200 years later, Kamehameha I rebuilt the pond,
and it was used for several more decades. It was
part of a thriving Hawaiian village called Kalepolepo
that once covered this whole area.
Fishponds (loko i'a) were things that beautified the land, and a land with many fishponds
was called a "fat" land ('aina momona). Samuel Kamakau, Hawaiian Historian, 1869
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Sanctuary Program
Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sanctuary