Hawaii FEP - Western Pacific Fishery Council

commercial harvests of the “red fish” that are culturally important and much anticipated forChristmas and New Year’s holiday celebrations. The longest human use of Hawaii’s marineresources has obviously been that of subsistence use. The continuing importance of subsistenceactivities to today’s Native Hawaiians has been recently described by Davianna McGregor(McGregor 2006) as follows below. Although McGregor wrote primarily about NativeHawaiians, her words are also relevant for many other groups and individuals in Hawaii.Through subsistence, families attain essential resources to compensate for low incomes. Theycan also obtain food items, especially seafood that might be prohibitively expensive in a strictcash economy. If families on fixed incomes were required to purchase these items, they wouldprobably opt for cheaper, less healthy food that would predispose them to health problems. Inthis respect, subsistence not only provides food, but also ensures a healthy diet.Subsistence generally requires a great amount of physical exertion e.g., fishing, diving, hunting),which is a valuable form of exercise and stress reduction and contributes to good physical andmental health. It is also a form of recreation that the whole family can share in. Family membersof all ages contribute to different phases of subsistence, be it active hunting, fishing, gathering,or cleaning and preparing the food for eating. Older family members teach younger ones how toengage in subsistence and prepare the food, thus passing on ancestral knowledge, experience,and skill.Another benefit of subsistence is sharing and gift giving within the community. Families andneighbors exchange resources when they are abundant and available, and the elderly are oftenthe beneficiaries of resources shared by younger, more able-bodied practitioners. Most ku’ainabelieve that generosity is rewarded with better luck in the future.Resources obtained through subsistence are also used for a variety of special life cycle occasionsthat bond families and communities. Resources such as fish, limu, opihi, wild venison, and so onare foods served at luau for baby birthdays, graduations, weddings, and funerals. Ohana andcommunity residents participate in these gatherings, which cultivate and reinforce a sense offamily and community identity. If ohana members had to purchase such resources rather thanacquire through subsistence, the cost would be prohibitive, and the number of ohana gatheringswould decrease. Subsistence activities therefore enable ohana to gather frequently and reinforceimportant relationships and support networks.The author goes on to provide case studies of five cultural kipuka or areas in which NativeHawaiian traditions and lifestyles have persisted most strongly. In each area, subsistence fishing,hunting and gathering continues to play an essential role in allowing Hawaiians (and surely somenon-Hawaiians as well) to interact with the natural environment and to continue their family andcultural traditions on a daily basis.Few studies have attempted to quantify the importance of subsistence activities to Hawaii’sresidents. One study that did so was conducted by the University of Hawaii and focused onMolokai. A random survey of Molokai families found that 28 percent of their food came fromsubsistence activities, and for Native Hawaiian families 38 percent of their food came fromsubsistence activities. The authors also noted that virtually every family interviewed stated that130