Kīpahulu celebrates one-year anniversary of Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area

On March 25, Kīpahulu celebrates the one-year anniversary of the Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA) rules going into effect for the Kīpahulu moku. Over the last year, the community established a Kīpahulu Makai Watch program, and new signage displaying the CBSFA rules has recently been erected at prominent spots in the area.

The CBSFA designation in 2024 was the result of over a decade of grassroots community planning and engagement within the moku and across Maui and the state, led by the nonprofit organization Kīpahulu ‘Ohana, Inc. (KOI).

Since then, KOI has been working with the Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement (DOCARE) and the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) to design signage that complies with state regulations to notify users and visitors of the CBSFA rules. On March 12, KOI was joined by these agencies as well as Haleakalā National Park staff to install the signage at Alelele and Lelekea Bays and at the National Park campground.

“We have had some incidents where it seems that the ability of DOCARE to enforce the rules is undermined if signage isn’t present, so we’re happy that after almost a year, we have been able to work with everyone to get the signs in place,” says Kamalei Pico, Executive Director for KOI.

Kipahulu has also established a Makai Watch program, which is part of a collaborative, statewide program where citizens and NGOs become directly involved with the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) in the management of marine resources through promoting compliance with rules and providing education and monitoring. The Makai Watch approach is based on the idea that people who use, deal with, or live closest to the natural and cultural resources are in the best position to help other users or visitors understand the nature and needs of the area.

“The CBSFA establishes a co-management relationship between the community and the state agencies,” says Chanel Browne, Maui Makai Watch Coordinator with DLNR. “We recognize that only through a collaborative partnership can we effectively implement the CBSFA rules and protect the resources for fishers to feed their families in a subsistence way, and pass along those practices to future generations. We hope that the Makai Watch program will aid the community in providing education to visitors and assist our officers in enforcing the rules of the Kīpahulu CBSFA .”

The Kīpahulu CBSFA is located in the moku of Kīpahulu in East Maui along a 5.7-mile stretch of coastline from Kālepa to Pua‘alu‘u Gulch and extending seaward from the high-water mark on the shoreline to three points roughly along the 60-meter depth contour and about 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 mile from shore. Rules for the CBSFA are designed by the community in co-management with DAR to perpetuate, protect, and reaffirm traditional and customary practices of that place for the purposes of Native Hawaiian subsistence, fishing, and culture, as well as to better manage makai (ocean) resources.

More information about the Kīpahulu CBSFA rules can be found at: https://www.kipahuluohana.org/cbsfa

Kīpahulu ‘Ohana is only the third CBSFA in Hawai‘i, and joins the pioneering efforts of Hui Maka‘āinana o Makana in Hā‘ena, Kalanihale in Miloli‘i, Miloli‘i on Hawai‘i Island and Mo‘omomi, Moloka‘i, where the first CBSFA was piloted from 1994 to 1996.