E Alu Pū: Moving Forward Together, Restoring Community Coastal Governance in Hawaiʻi

E Alu Pū means moving forward together or to gather like a school of fish. The E Alu Pū network links more than twenty-five communities from around Hawai`i who support one another in protecting and stewarding lands and... [ view full abstract ]

E Alu Pū means moving forward together or to gather like a school of fish. The E Alu Pū network links more than twenty-five communities from around Hawai`i who support one another in protecting and stewarding lands and waters. E Alu Pū communities gather to learn from and empower each other and enact formal collaborative governance of coastal resources in partnership with state resource management agencies, conservation non-profits and academics.  

In many communities coastal resources have sustained and been cared for by Hawaiian fishing families for hundreds of years. This panel brings together lawaiʻa (fishermen and women), cultural practitioners, community leaders, conservation professionals, advocates, and scholars who have worked together on these efforts for the past decade to share stories and lessons of this movement.  

Some key challenges include tourism and recreational use, lack of legal mechanisms to differentiate community rights from those of the general public, escalating land values and real estate speculation making it difficult to keep communities living in place, opposition by commercial interests and lack of integration among state resource management agencies.  

Despite these challenges, movements to restore local, culturally grounded governance continue to grow through vibrant cross-community networks, dedicated leadership, transmission of knowledge across generations, and emphasis on responsibility in harvesting and caring for coastal resources as an ongoing source of sustenance.