*2.2. Study Site: Kahana, Ko'olauloa, O'ahu*

The *ahupua*'*a* of Kahana is located within the *moku* (district) of Ko'olauloa on the windward side of O'ahu, Hawai'i's most developed island (Figure 1). This rural *ahupua*'*a* encompasses a single watershed (5228.7 acres) that empties into Kahana Bay, an important spawning and nursery ground for many native aquatic species. Kahana's nearshore fishery sustained a thriving Native Hawaiian population prior to Western contact [36], and continues to be important for the cultural identity and subsistence of area families. Kahana has a long history of Native Hawaiian presence, with archaeological research indicating habitation for over 800 years [37]. Historical continuity is further evidenced by Kahana's many *mo*'*olelo* (oral stories) of Hawaiian deities dating from time immemorial, and by its cultural landscapes and seascapes [38–41], including Huilua Fishpond, a stone wall enclosure traditionally used for aquaculture.

**Figure 1.** Location of the *ahupua*'*a* of Kahana within the *moku* (district) of Ko'olauloa on the island of O'ahu. Geographic Information System (GIS) boundaries and names are delineated by the "Ahupua'a" layer provided by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and distributed by the Hawai'i Statewide GIS Program.

*Konohiki* fishing rights were officially recognized in Kahana until 1965–1969, when the State of Hawai'i acquired the *ahupua*'*a* and opened its fishery for public access. Today, the *ahupua*'*a* is established as a recreational state park offering ten beach campsites, two designated hiking trails, and interpretive programs for visitors to learn about Hawaiian culture. Kahana families, many with multigenerational and genealogical ties to the area, continue to reside in the park on long-term leases with the state. Despite nearly half a century of planning efforts, there is no master plan or shared state and community vision for managing the *ahupua*'*a* and its resources, including the nearshore fishery.

#### **3. Methods**

For this study, the lead author conducted 19 in-depth interviews, 9 with elders and fishers of Kahana and 10 with state resource management personnel, along with informal discussions and time spent between June 2015 and April 2017 participating in community events and workdays. Using a snowball sampling method [42], community members identified elders and fishers' (subsistence and commercial) extensive knowledge of the history related to Kahana's fishery. Semi-structured interviews focused on stories of place, stewardship practices, perceived changes and threats to coastal resources, and recommendations for improving management, capturing personal recollections from as early as the 1930s. State resource management personnel representing different agencies in the Department of Land and Natural Resources were identified by community members, as well as other personnel [42], based on having worked with the Kahana community or their familiarity with community concerns and caretaking efforts. Semi-structured interviews with state resource management personnel addressed management approaches in Kahana, as well as agency efforts and experiences working with community.

Secondary data include Kahana-related research publications such as scientific studies, state government documents including master plans and environmental impact statements, and transcripts from previous collections of interviews [21,43–46] with 23 community members from across the district of Ko'olauloa (Table 1). The lead author also searched archival records such as English language newspapers, correspondence by historic land owners, photos and maps from the Hawai'i State Archives, Bishop Museum, and Brigham Young University–Hawai'i. Newspaper articles were also accessed from online repositories, dating from as early as 1852. A constructivist grounded theory approach guided collection and analysis of qualitative data in this study [47]. Codes derived from interview transcripts, field notes, and secondary data were used to develop conceptual categories related to *konohiki* and community caretaking.


**Table 1.** Number of individuals interviewed (primary interviews, N = 19; secondary interviews, N = 23).

#### **4. Results**

Although Kahana formally maintained local level *konohiki* fishing rights through the mid-1960s, over half a century longer than most communities in Hawai'i, the modern *konohiki* system detailed in this case study operated within a very different context than during pre-contact times (Table 2). The *konohiki*, who are remembered by community elders, operated between the 1920s and mid-1960s within a changed system of Western land privatization, commercial use of the nearshore fishery, and the ability to lease *konohiki* fishing rights. Transition to a private property regime following the land division process of 1846–1858 brought new interpretations of the role and responsibilities of *konohiki* [26]. Once a position held by well-respected individuals appointed to oversee the well-being of *ahupua*'*a* residents and resources, *konohiki* of the late 19th and early 20th centuries enjoyed the benefits of owning particular lands while no longer accountable for ensuring their provision of abundance. According to certified deeds, purchase of Kahana's *konohiki* land came with the rights to the *konohiki* fishery (and fishponds) [48]. Thus, Kahana's *konohiki* fishing rights exchanged hands with new landowners, from Caesar Kapa'akea and Chiefess Keohoka¯lole in 1850, to three different Chinese businessmen, and finally to Ka Hui Ku'ai i Ka ' ¯ A¯ ina o Kahana (Hui of Kahana, or Hui) in 1874 [36,48]. The Hui was a group of 95 mostly Native Hawaiians from Kahana and surrounding *ahupua*'*a* who collectively purchased back the land and divided it among 115 shares [36]. However, with Hawai'i's increasingly foreign-controlled government and new laws enabling wealthy foreigners to acquire Hawaiian lands, Hui shares and other land parcels were eventually sold outside of the Kahana community. By 1903, the majority of Hui shares were owned by Mary Foster, a wealthy part Hawaiian businesswoman with no known connection to Kahana [36], and by 1930, she owned 99% of the *ahupua*'*a* [49].

Between 1905 to around 1965, Kahana's konohiki fishery appears to have operated under Mary Foster or her estate (having majority rule on Hui decisions) for commercial production, while ahupua'a residents continued to exercise their legal right to the fishery for subsistence. Court documents under the territory of Hawai'i reveal successful registration of Kahana's *konohiki* fishery in 1905, to the Hui of Kahana as vested owners [50]. Within the same year, archival records indicate that Mary Foster and her estate, acting on behalf of the Hui, began leasing the fishing rights for commercial operation [51]. Although newspaper advertisements announced lease of the fishing rights for the highest bidder, community interviews reveal that lessees were still expected to fulfill the traditional *konohiki* responsibility of leading communal fishing efforts. To invite community ability and bring people together for collective harvests, lessees still had to earn and maintain the respect of community members.

#### *4.1. Persisting Role of Konohiki to Invite Ability*

Although *konohiki* of the 19th and 20th centuries acquired their positions through new means, the role of *konohiki* remained an important aspect of life in Kahana. Community interviews recall three *konohiki* operating in Kahana, some at the same time (Table 2). The first *konohiki* people remember is Samuel Pua Ha'aheo, who held the fishing rights possibly as early as 1924, when he became the caretaker of Huilua Fishpond, through to 1946 [40]. According to interviews, Pua was not originally from Kahana but married a woman from the area. Archival records show that he rented property from Mary Foster [52]. Pua's responsibilities were to monitor the fishery, determine when it was time to collectively surround schools of fish, guide fishers from the shoreline, and oversee distribution of the catch. Interviewees expressed that Pua was beloved and well-respected because he was perceived as taking care of everyone, especially the elders.


**Table 2.** Changes in land and sea tenure in Kahana, O'ahu (1200–1969).

Following Pua, most community members remember the Kamake'ea¯ina family, and in particular, Uncle or Papa 'A¯ ina Pahumoa Kamake'ea¯ina from La¯'iemalo'o, a nearby *ahupua*'*a* within the same district (Figure 1). The Kamake'ea¯inas are considered to be the last *konohiki* of Kahana, maintaining this role through the mid-1960s. One of the eldest interviewees described how the first time the Kamake'ea¯inas surrounded *akule* (big eye scad, *Selar crumenopthalmus*) in Kahana, not a single resident went to the beach to help. However, younger interviewees only remember doing collective harvests with the Kamake'ea¯inas and recall Uncle 'A¯ ina as a person who always gave fish. Together, these varied accounts suggest the Kamake'ea¯inas were able to build their relationships with the Kahana community over time.

During both Pua's and the Kamake'ea¯inas' tenures as *konohiki*, Nicholas Peterson, who was part Hawaiian and originally from the south side of O'ahu, served as "the caretaker of Kahana". However, as one elder clarified, "Uncle Nick wasn't really the People's *konohiki*, so they say, but [he worked] for Mary Foster ... He had to make sure that he made the bucks out of the fishing and make sure that she had revenues coming in." According to newspaper articles, Peterson worked as a foreman for Mary Foster from around 1925 through to 1960 [53]. Community interviews suggest that Peterson collected rent from the residents, made sure people were taking care of upland resources, enforced Kahana's restriction on harvesting *akule*, and sold the fish surrounded from communal harvests. Whether responsible for leading the fishing effort or ensuring reliable harvests, the 20th century *konohiki* of Kahana continued to mobilize community efforts around cultivating and harvesting abundance.

#### *4.2. Managing Land-Sea Connectivity*

One way in which Kahana's *konohiki* maintained the health of the nearshore fishery was by managing the land and streams, which affect coastal resources. According to community interviews, it was Peterson, who primarily oversaw the whole *ahupua*'*a*. As one long-time resident describes, Peterson would make sure people were "keeping their yards clean, make sure they came out and did what they're supposed to, make sure the rivers were clean, the stream beds, and just [responsibilities] that belong to our people anyway." Elders remember Kahana being well cared for when there was a *konohiki*, commenting in particular on how Kahana Stream was cleared of vegetation. Many interviewees recalled how the *hau* (*Hibiscus tiliaceus*), an invasive tree that has overgrown the stream in recent decades, never used to reach the water's surface. The importance of managing land–sea connectivity is emphasized in the Hui's requirement of the Kamake'ea¯inas, as non-residents, to cultivate one *lo*'*i* (flooded-field agriculture) in Kahana in order to hold the *konohiki* fishing rights. Residents also cared for their own *lo*'*i* and home gardens, and recall how "from time to time, everyone went up the valley to clean the [irrigation ditches]. We never let the [irrigation ditches] get dirty or blocked with rubbish. We all cleaned it together" [54] (p. 13). In these various ways, Kahana's *konohiki* and the community managed the land and sea as an integrated unit, recognizing that fisheries management begins on land.

#### *4.3. Protecting Spawning Behavior*

Kahana's *konohiki* also protected natural processes to replenish the fishery, such as spawning behavior. Kahana Bay provides important spawning and nursery habitat for many of Hawai'i's native aquatic species, including hammerhead sharks, manta rays, *moi* (*Polydactylus sexfilis*; Pacific threadfin), *a*¯*holehole* (*Kuhlia xenura*; Hawaiian flagtail), and '*ama*'*ama* (striped mullet, *Mugil cephalus*). However, Kahana is most famed for the large schools of *akule* (big eye scad, *Selar crumenopthalmus*) that aggregated in the center of its bay to spawn [39]. From as early as 1852, lasting into the mid-1960s, Kahana's *konohiki* actively claimed exclusive rights to harvest *akule* [50,55]. This restriction on harvesting *akule* additionally meant that no one except the *konohiki* could even enter the center of the bay. As one elder explained, "If you want to go fishing, we got to stick to the side of the bay and then go out. They don't like us in the middle, because we're going to chase the *akule* away. Chase the fish away." *Ahupua*'*a* residents could still exercise their right to the *konohiki* fishery by accessing the edges of the bay and its fringing reefs to fish and gather for home consumption. Elders attribute a productive nearshore fishery—with schools of fish visiting the bay more frequently, in greater numbers, and with larger individuals—to *konohiki* management. Kahana Bay's establishment as a *konohiki* fishery protected it from overuse by prohibiting entry of non-residents, and the restriction on harvesting *akule* further protected replenishment of fish stocks by ensuring that spawning behaviors were not disrupted.

#### *4.4. Sharing Responsibility*

Another enduring feature of *konohiki* was the sharing of responsibility, exemplified through the continued practice of *hukilau*. *Hukilau* is a communal surround net fishing method in which *lau* (ti leaf) is intertwined with rope and used to guide schools of fish towards the shore. In modern practice, nets were also used and attached to the rope. Nearly every community member interviewed in this study, and in previous studies, discussed *hukilau* for *akule*. This Hawaiian fishing method required the help of the whole community to contribute various skills and labor including spotting the school of fish, rowing the boat, diving to check the net, pulling the net in, and loading baskets full of fish to sell at the market. Once a school of fish was surrounded, the work continued with everyone helping to clean the boats and nets, patch up holes in the nets, cut and gather wood to build racks for the nets to dry on, and store everything back in Kahana's net and boat houses, ready for the next surround. All of this shared responsibility and work was coordinated by the *konohiki*.

#### *4.5. Supporting Communal Benefit*

Only by sharing in the work, the entire community also could share in the benefits. The *konohiki* who led the fishing effort was also responsible for overseeing the distribution of catch from each surround, making sure that everyone—workers, community members, and even visitors—had fish to bring home to their families. One resident, born and raised in Kahana, shared of Pua Ha'aheo, "No matter how big the school or how small the school ... each resident had their share of fish to go home with. That's how it was. So that's how he maintained the fishing rights over here" [56]. In addition to their shared distribution of the catch, everyone who helped also received a share of the money earned from selling the fish. Kahana elders describe how Mary Foster and the *konohiki* would split the money fifty-fifty, then the *konohiki* "would split the money up so everybody got money ... [Your share] would depend on how old you were and how much work you did." Pua and the Kamake'ea¯inas kept their roles as *konohiki* through facilitating collective ability to harvest then distributing the share to see that the community, especially elders, were well provided for.

#### *4.6. Limited State Capacity to Manage Ahupua'a Resources*

Kahana's elders shared how their nearshore fishery, even as it was being used for both subsistence and commercial purposes, was well cared for and abundant under *konohiki* management. However, with the loss of *konohiki* fishing rights, interviewees began to see the fishery decline. Between 1965 and 1969, the State of Hawai'i acquired Kahana through eminent domain, establishing the *ahupua*'*a* as a recreational state park and opening its *konohiki* fishery for public access. Facing eviction, Kahana families protested and successfully lobbied the state legislature to remain on the land [49]. Today, just 28 households, many with multi-generational and genealogical ties to Kahana, have secured 65-year leases with the state [57]. Per lease terms, residents are required to provide 25 hours each month of cultural activities and interpretive services for park visitors, as part of the state's "living park" concept. Since Kahana became a state park, residents have endured decades of meetings, interviews, and surveys involved in state-funded studies, legislative reports, environmental impact assessments, at least eight master planning efforts and numerous park program proposals [49,58]. Yet there is no master plan for Kahana and the majority of State Parks and community interviewees agree the "living park" concept is no longer viable.

Community interviewees also expressed that the state has poorly addressed threats to coastal resources, including intensive commercial fishing, disruptive recreational uses such as jet skis, invasive species introductions, and habitat change. State Parks interviewees expressed they lack the capacity and expertise to manage ecological function. Though State Parks is tasked to manage Kahana's natural and cultural resources, their efforts largely focus on creating public recreational opportunities. Additionally, State Parks does not have jurisdiction over the nearshore fishery. Interviews with personnel from Aquatic Resources, Boating and Ocean Recreation, and Conservation and Resources

Enforcement highlight their responsibility to the whole archipelago, and therefore their inability to focus limited resources on any one community's concerns. Following decades of failed planning efforts, mismanagement and fishery decline, the Kahana community, including residents and fishers from across the district of Ko'olauloa, is strengthening local governance to improve coastal resource health.

#### *4.7. Reviving and Strengthening Local Fisheries Institutions*

Kahana families are finding creative ways to manage their coastal resources through reviving *ahupua*'*a* health and food systems, restoring customary harvesting practices, teaching across generations, and building community relationships and management capacity. With the help of younger residents and Ko'olauloa families, elders have restored and continue to maintain *lo*'*i* (flooded-field agriculture) that were cared for within their families for generations. These farmers also work together to maintain the traditional irrigation ditch that feeds their *lo*'*i* with stream water. These traditional food systems have become features of the park, where visitors from schools and organizations across the island visit to learn and contribute through workdays.

Huilua Fishpond, which once functioned as a community food source, also fell into disuse under state ownership. In 2015, young leaders worked with State Parks to obtain a master permit, in compliance with state and federal regulations, to begin restoring the fishpond's 1000-foot wall. Although the permit determines the extent of activities that can be performed, fishpond caretakers lead the restoration effort and design best-management practices based on traditional environmental and cultural protocol [59].

Other young community members created the community-based nonprofit organization, Kahana Kilo Kai, in 2014 to steward the bay. They formally enrolled in the "Adopt-a-Harbor" program their first year to restore area facilities long neglected by Boating and Ocean Recreation. They also worked with the agency to post signage reminding jet skiers of Hawai'i's "slow-no-wake" laws, to minimize disturbance to fish spawning behavior. Along with these efforts, three youth completed training in identifying and reporting violations of fishing regulations through the Conservation and Resources Enforcement agency's Makai Watch program. Over the course of this study, Kahana families gathered at the pier regularly to monitor recreational activities, record fish catches and spawning times, build relationships with fishers, and educate the public about both state regulations and local values for using area resources responsibly. In recognition of these collective efforts by Kahana's young leaders, one state resource manager stated, "They don't just suggest things, they don't just plan things. They're doing it. They're working in the taro patches, they're carrying [rocks] at the fishpond ... they can walk their talk." Through restoring traditional agriculture and aquaculture, and promoting responsible use of the nearshore fishery, the Kahana community is reintegrating land and sea management, while reasserting their role as caretakers.

Kahana fishing families are also reviving other customary nearshore management and fishing practices, such as *hukilau* or communal surround net fishing. Though *hukilau* ended in Kahana in the mid-1960s, community members revived the practice for '*ama*'*ama*, a native mullet, with guidance from one particular elder over the past ten years. While *hukilau* requires substantial effort, this harvesting practice, in which everyone who participates can contribute, strengthens community through relearning, reconnecting, and working together.

Community interviews also highlight potential rules for future local-level fisheries management that draw upon customary practices. The majority of community interviews expressed interest in introducing a new state law to place an island-wide seasonal restriction on harvesting *akule*, as well as placing a ban on disruptive recreational uses in Kahana, such as jet skis, to protect fish spawning behaviors. Many, including commercial fishers within the community, also share a desire to limit commercial fishing. Guided by elder knowledge and recommendations, the Kahana community is relearning harvesting and caretaking practices of *konohiki* to improve management of their nearshore fishery.

Another way in which Kahana families are strengthening local influence is through teaching across generations. Over the past several years, young community members have organized fishing camps, held for multiple days each summer, to educate area families and especially youth about ecosystem health and function, caretaking values, and responsible harvesting practices. The camps integrate Indigenous and Western knowledge systems through activities such as sewing and patching fishing nets, monitoring changing ecological conditions according to the Hawaiian moon calendar, and analyzing fish gonads to document spawning times. Many community elders and longtime fisher men and women informally teach at the camps, but also, learn. One Kahana elder shared, "A lot of the things that I've been taught today [through fishing camps and community gatherings] was never ever taught to our young ones or even to our old ones." Logistically, hosting the camps in Kahana requires Special Use permits to be filed with State Parks at least 45 days in advance. Aside from general rules for using the area, these permits secure space for families, many of whom no longer live in Kahana, to gather, teach, and learn together on the land. These camps also strengthen relationships with nonprofit and state resource management personnel, who are also invited to participate in and help conduct activities.

Kahana families are also building their capacity to manage coastal resources through participating in local and global community partnerships and knowledge sharing networks. As a member of the nonprofit organization, Kua'a¯ina Ulu 'Auamo (KUA), Kahana families are connected to more than 33 communities across Hawai'i working to protect and steward their lands and fisheries, including the restoration of 38 fishponds. In 2016, Kahana families expanded this network internationally, hosting a fishpond workday with over 100 Indigenous and community leaders, practitioners, and supporters from 35 nations. The global gathering was organized by KUA to build solidarity among individuals engaged in community grassroots efforts prior to attending the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) World Conservation Congress in Honolulu.

Although the Kahana community lacks formal government recognition of local management rights or co-management agreements, these informal efforts demonstrate community action and commitment. State resource management personnel across agencies have begun to take notice and lend their support. Within the timeframe of this study, state personnel attended fishing camp activities to give talks to the youth, helped to pull *hukilau* nets in to shore, and passed rocks at the fishpond alongside community members. These means of informal engagement are beginning to repair state–community relationships, while also building community confidence, connections, and ability. Here, informal caretaking efforts hold promise for collaborative management driven by community objectives and needs.

#### **5. Discussion**

Understanding how Indigenous and place-based institutions historically operated and adapted to social–ecological change, and how they can fit within contemporary contexts is essential for biocultural restoration [6,60,61]. We use a case study approach focused on one Hawai'i fishing community reclaiming their role as caretakers despite changes in land and sea tenure, governance, access, and use. Emerging from this research are key considerations for community-based collaborative management. These include: (1) understanding historical context for enhancing institutional fit, (2) enduring community leadership, (3) balancing rights and responsibilities, and (4) fostering community ability to manage coastal resources through both formal and informal processes.

#### *5.1. Understanding Historical Context for Enhancing Institutional Fit*

Understanding social-ecological systems from a historical perspective is critical in designing effective collaborative fisheries management institutions. Institutions are systems of rights, formal and informal rules, and decision-making procedures that guide human–environment interactions [62]. Institutional fit refers to how well institutions match a particular social–ecological system, often in terms of their spatial, temporal, and functional contexts [63–65]. Findings from this research emphasize that

design of fisheries institutions must also factor in the historical contexts of a social–ecological system, specifically the traditional and place-based institutions historically in place. *Konohiki* management was tailored to local socio–cultural contexts and ecological systems, including prime spawning habitat and the impacts of land-based activities on the nearshore fishery. The experience of coastal resource decline is not unique to Kahana, but is shared across Hawai'i [21,26], the Pacific [7,11], and other parts of the world [5,9] where Western models and concepts of resource management have replaced Indigenous and place-based institutions. Still, a wealth and diversity of traditional and place-based knowledge systems endure, and can be adapted within contemporary contexts to improve coastal resource management [3,5,11–13,66]. Rather than simply replicating specific practices of these time-tested institutions, it is important to understand their foundational principles, the key functions they fulfilled, and how they can be adapted to foster future biocultural restoration.

#### *5.2. Enduring Community Leadership*

Hawai'i's *konohiki* system is an example of a community-based collaborative management institution that endured by maintaining key features within a changing social–ecological context. One enduring feature was *konohiki* facilitation of community caretaking and harvesting efforts, which depended upon in-depth knowledge of the local ecology, exceptional fishing skills, and ability to earn and maintain the respect of the community [28,67]. Such leadership roles are increasingly recognized as important attributes contributing to sustainable fisheries [20,68–70], specifically when leadership is perceived to be legitimate and highly engaged [71]. A recent analysis of 130 co-managed fisheries worldwide identified leadership—the presence of at least one respected individual with entrepreneurial skills, who is driven by collective interests and committed to the co-management process—as the most important feature for successful co-management [68]. The Kahana case study provides an example in which leadership emerges through a community as a collective in the context of perceived government inaction and resource decline. In this case, leadership is dispersed among elders as knowledge holders and young adults who mobilize community around various caretaking activities. These collective efforts demonstrate how multiple sources of leadership can be complementary, interact through mutual support, and coexist within community, adding to a pluralistic conceptualization of environmental leadership [70].

#### *5.3. Balancing Rights and Responsibilities*

Maintaining collective benefit through balancing rights and responsibilities was another enduring feature of *konohiki* management. *Konohiki* carried unique responsibility to oversee harvests, facilitating a system in which everyone who contributed to collective work would in turn receive the benefits of reliable harvests [24,25,67]. Rights and responsibilities for all resource users need to be balanced and based upon contributions to collective efforts and caretaking [60]. One key challenge to fisheries co-management in Hawai'i is that traditional management rested upon reserving distinct rights for area residents [13,29]. Under the state, open access allows the public to use and harvest coastal resources with no expectation to care for them, cultivate their abundance, or give back in any way. This decoupling of rights and responsibility has resulted in coastal resource decline worldwide [7,14,72]. Displacement of Indigenous people throughout the world for the purpose of establishing national parks, uninhabited wilderness [9], and marine protected areas [7] violates their customary rights and prevents them from exercising their distinct responsibilities to care for their homelands. Managing natural areas for public benefit limits community ability to continually interact with, eat from, perpetuate knowledge of, and govern coastal resources for which they are responsible. Emerging literature on co-management emphasizes the need to maintain a balanced distribution of rights and responsibilities, obligations, and benefits amongst all resource users [60,61,67].

#### *5.4. Fostering Community Ability to Manage Coastal Resources through Both Formal and Informal Processes*

This case study also highlights the power of informal fisheries co-management as a means to foster community ability to lead caretaking efforts. Co-management comprises a variety of institutional arrangements shaped by different goals, partners, knowledge systems, and degrees of power sharing [15–20]. Such arrangements are negotiated and acknowledged through a formal (e.g., officially recognized by law) or informal (e.g., verbally accepted) agreement among partners [18]. In Kahana, the fishery has been minimally managed with archipelago-wide species-specific regulations administered by the state. Formal state park leases focus only on community service to educate visitors. However, within the last decade, Kahana families have been reclaiming their role as caretakers through informal means of managing coastal resources. Many of these caretaking activities require state approval (e.g., through special permits) and increasingly engage state resource management personnel, for example, to give invited talks to youth at fishing camps.

Through informal co-management, communities have the flexibility to self-organize, determine their own management objectives, and act upon them within their own time frames. By working within informal co-management systems, collective governance of fisheries, along with feelings of empowerment and shared responsibility, can be achieved and lead to effective management practices [73]. Informal caretaking efforts in Kahana also highlight the importance of creating protected spaces for families and community to spend time together and build upon generational knowledge of place and practice. Traditional activities provide not only a gathering space for renewing relationships with family, community, and place, but also a foundation for cultural resurgence and resilience [74]. Adaptive community-led management can guide progress towards more just and effective conservation solutions, restoring coastal resources along with Indigenous and place-based communities' rights and responsibilities [60].

Still, this study recognizes the need for higher levels of governance to formally complement and support community caretaking efforts [19,20,69]. Informal co-management can be limited in confronting unsustainable fishing and recreational activity, and may require legal backing [19]. Long-term sustainability requires place-specific rules, the ability of communities to recognize and respond to change, and support from higher levels of organization [12,69]. In this case, as in others, informal efforts can strengthen relationships that pave the way for more formal co-management agreements [16,67].

#### **6. Conclusions**

Understanding how Indigenous and place-based institutions historically operated and adapted to social–ecological change, and how they can be reinvigorated within contemporary contexts, is essential for biocultural restoration [6,60,61]. This study provides a historical perspective of fisheries governance within one rural Hawaiian fishing community, covering the transition from local to state level fisheries management, to an emerging collaborative arrangement led by community. This study also demonstrates how informal community initiative *ma ka hana ka* '*ike*, to learn by doing the work [75], can be more powerful than formal co-management arrangements for building community ability [67,74]. Findings also emphasize the value of understanding historical institutions that adapted to local socio-cultural and ecological contexts, building collective leadership that fulfills traditional functions, and balancing rights and responsibilities amongst all resource users. Effective fisheries governance requires true partnerships, formal and informal, that value Indigenous and place-based knowledge systems and while creating the space for communities to build enduring relationships among people, place and practice.

**Author Contributions:** Both authors were involved in the design of this research. M.M. wrote the initial draft manuscript and carried out the field research. Both authors contributed to analysis and writing the paper. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

**Funding:** The APC was funded by Hawai'i Community Foundation.

**Acknowledgments:** Mahalo first and foremost to the Kahana elders and fishers who shared their stories, knowledge of place, and recommendations for Kahana's people, fishery, and future. We also thank the state resource management personnel who took time to share their thoughts and efforts moving forward. A special thanks to Shaelene Kamaka'ala, who has been a tremendous support and guiding light in this work. We also thank Ho¯'ala 'A¯ ina Ku¯pono, the Ku¯'oko'a Strategic Initiative, the Hawai'i Community Foundation, Malia Akutagawa, Kirsten Oleson, Heather McMillen, and the Ko'olauloa families who continue to care for this place. Credit goes to Kalani Quiocho for the title, meaning "Through Kahana, one learns," a word play on the Hawaiian proverb, "Ma ka hana ka 'ike."

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
