Hawaiian Fish Farming & Kona Blue

Hawaii has farmed fish since the first Polynesians settled on the islands in the 11th century A.D., making it the oldest tradition of aquaculture in the U.S.

Ancient Hawaiians farmed fish and crab in coastal ponds made with stone walls and connected to the ocean. Because fish was the primary source of protein in traditional Hawaiian diets, the ponds served as a means to supply readily available food. It is estimated there were more than 400 fishponds in Hawaii when Captain Cook arrived in 1778.

The harvest from many of the ponds, however, was reserved for the ali'i, or chiefs, and King Kamehameha was known to have some of the biggest fishponds in the islands. Pa'aiea, his favorite, was located on the Kona coast of the Big Island. Approximately three miles long and one-half mile wide, the pond was so large, it inspired a Hawaiian proverb:

O na hoku o ka lani, o Pa'aiea ko lalo - “The stars are above, Pa'aiea below”

The saying is a reference to the numerous islets that dotted the great fishpond's interior, mimicking the vast sky with its many stars.

Pa'aiea was completely inundated by a lava flow in 1801. Kamehameha is said to have offered a lock of his hair - the greatest sacrifice he could make - in order to stop the volcanic eruption from Hualalai, but the fishpond was destroyed and nearly four square kilometers (1,000 acres) of land was added to the Kona coastline by the flow.

Today, Kona Blue is furthering the ancient Hawaiian tradition of aquaculture by leveraging innovative, state-of-the-art hatchery and open ocean grow-out technology. Kona Blue's hatchery is located at the Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii (NELHA) in Kona, on the very lava rock created by the flow that covered Pa'aiea more than 200 years ago. The Company's open ocean grow-out site is directly half a mile offshore from this lava rock coast.