Pacific Islander/Oceania Cultures Vocabulary

Pacific Islander/Oceania Cultures

• Limited island resources led to the development of resource management strategies that were deeply intertwined with spirituality and observation.
• Adaptation to local conditions was key, with intergenerational knowledge passed down through oral traditions.
• Numerous strategies were used to manage resources, including customary sea/marine tenure systems.

Customary Marine Tenure (CST) Systems

• CST systems were characterized by close social systems with historical, exclusionary, and transferrable access enforcement.
• Management strategies were decentralized, localized, and included spatial, effort, and catch limitations.
• Unique to CST systems was the practice of holding catch with potential for release.

Alignment with Ostrom Design Principles

• CST systems aligned with Ostrom Design Principles, including defined boundaries, local autonomy, and users making the rules.
• However, CST systems did not fulfill Ostrom's design rules for managing the commons in terms of graduated sanctions (punishment was severe) and rules were made by those affected (mostly konohiki informed by data from lawai'a).

Pre-Colonial Hawai'i CST

• Wao akua and wao kanaka were two zones of management, with wao akua being protected resources and wao kanaka being intensively developed areas.
• Ahupua'a was a management unit that included a social hierarchy of commoners (maka'ainana), esoteric knowledge keepers (kahuna), and ruling class (ali'i).
• Konohiki was the land manager, and lawai'a was the term for "enough fish".
• Observational tools included kaulana mahina, which used monthly and yearly scales.

Aquatic Resources Management

• CST systems managed various aquatic resources, including salt, fishponds, streams, nearshore fisheries, and deep shore fisheries.
• Examples of local fish managed include [insert specific fish names].

Kapu

• Kapu was a system of spatial, temporal, catch, and effort limitations.
• Alignment with Ostrom Design Principles was mostly fulfilled, except for graduated sanctions and rules made by those affected.

Influence of Westernization/Colonization

• Fundamental conflicts arose due to the introduction of Mare Liberum, leading to the decline of CST systems.
• The Hawai'i Kingdom era saw attempts to transition from pre-colonial to "modern" times, including the recognition of konohiki fishing rights and konohiki fisheries.

1839 Declaration of Fishing Rights

• The declaration granted specific rights to konohiki/landlords from beach to coral reefs adjacent to an ahupua'a.
• Tenants/commoners were allowed to fish exclusively in these areas.

1840 Constitution and 1898 Annexation

• The 1840 constitution recognized rights beyond fringing reefs, and konohiki could make kapu.
• The 1898 annexation led to open access to all navigable water, including fisheries.

Territorial Period

• The 1900 US Organic Act terminated exclusive fishing rights unless a fishery was registered/vested, leading to the declaration of many konohiki fisheries as abandoned.
• Only 101 konohiki fisheries were vested, and the right to condemn a fishery was given to the US federal government and territorial government.
• By 1959, statehood led to the decline of most species catch.