Aloha Pumehana Kakou!

In our Applied Anthropology class, we were given an open assignment that would have us focus on an issue, study it out, and “practice anthropology.” We would attempt to set up solutions for issues that we studied, and what we studied could be on just about anything. Andrew likes to dive and catch fish and in doing so he saw many problems that he was interested in learning about and trying to solve. We formed our group and embarked on our “fishing trip.”

We got into contact with some of Jessie's family, as they are from the area of Laie and have been fishing all of their lives. We made a dinner for the family to give a gift and show that we were willing to learn. That dinner was also a very good way for us to focus in on what our objective for the project was.

After talking to different people that night we found out that some of the problems were overfishing, ignorant new fishers, and a conflict between commercial fishing versus feeding one's family. We had many things to think about.

We kept in touch with the family and interviewed Jessie's aunt and uncle, Aunty Laverne and Uncle Reuben Pukahi. They taught us the history of fishing here in Laie throughout their lives. We heard great fishing tales, and learned a lot about this area and how it has changed over the years. They were very instrumental to this project, and we are grateful that they were so willing to help.

We decided to focus on one aspect that we thought we could make the most difference in, and that is educating the students of BYUH, as there are many new people to the ahapua'a of Laie and few come with a knowledge of specific laws and rules about fishing. If a student wishes to learn about fishing or to begin fishing, there had not been anyone to explain things to them previous to this. We talked to fisherman of this area and conducted research on campus, among the students. After all of this we decided that the most accessible means of reaching people would be through the internet. And so our website was born.