An Archaeological Study of Pacific Island Aquaculture

Backed by Denny Luan
$40
Raised of $11,500 Goal
1%
Ended on 10/07/13
Campaign Ended
  • $40
    pledged
  • 1%
    funded
  • Finished
    on 10/07/13

About This Project

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What is the context of this research?

Oceania is a vast region with rich aquatic resources, but with high levels of environmental uncertainty. Pacific Islanders from this region, who often live on small, relatively impoverished, and sometimes geographically isolated islands, are frequently involved in “tight feedback loops” which make them acutely aware of how anthropogenic and natural influences affect their means of subsistence.

With this project, I'd like to answer the following questions:

How did early Pacific Island communities use fishponds and fish weirs to adapt to their marine environments?

What were early fishponds and fish weirs like?

How do various forms of Pacific island aquaculture relate to sea-level fluctuation?

How are these adaptive strategies being employed in a modern context?

How can these, and other indigenous knowledge claims, be preserved and balanced with contemporary science to benefit communities facing drastic climate change today?

The outcomes of this research are expected to provide a much needed spatio-temporal increase of knowledge of Pacific Island maritime adaptation and its role in global sustainability.

What is the significance of this project?

Because of the dynamic nature of sea-level change in the Pacific Ocean, maritime adaptation by Pacific Islanders has required constant modification of subsistence strategies and their creative use of the coastal niches available. At present, there is no question that the threat of sea level rise is an immediate concern in this region and has serious implications globally, but it is a dilemma that Pacific Islanders have been intimately familiar with since their arrival into the region.

This investigation will build on the interdisciplinary and international relationships I have begun to forge with other researchers and educators from Fiji, Vanuatu, The Solomon Islands, and Kiribati. It is our collaborative goal to ameliorate concerns in the Pacific related to climate change by blending traditional ecological knowledge with western science and by communicating our results to those communities that most need it. I feel strongly that this project has merit, its impact is broad, and if funded will enact positive change across a large, diverse region.

What are the goals of the project?

In the examination of Pacific Island fishponds and fish weirs, I will utilize a “top-down” approach that moves from remote observations utilizing satellite imagery and aerial photography to surface and subsurface techniques that will require test holes and small scale excavations of selected units. I will organize my overall research spatially by building an aquacultural database that is managed with GIS and considers the distribution of fishponds and fish weirs throughout Oceania while associating multivariate criteria such as size, shape, location, construction types, composition, fish extracted, level of domestication, and environmental parameters that can be used for comparative purposes and/or socioecological modeling.

Initially, the remote sensing methods I use will generate georeferenced digital elevation models (DEM) of the fishing structures and the immediate environment where they are found. These 3-D maps will be overlaid with a range of projected sea level heights so that accurate data regarding inundation and exposure of the coastal strand can be made. These non-invasive approaches can generate large amounts of spatial data and may have the secondary benefit of providing an accessible and cost efficient means of general shoreline assessment regarding sea-level change in areas of duress, such as on an island atoll.

Once the remote survey of these structures has been conducted, the next phase of research will be direct analyses using techniques of classic excavation, object experimentation, and observations of contemporary customary practices. The data generated from these methods will be used in a comparative manner focusing on the massive walled ponds of Hawaii (loko ia) and the temporary, mobile reed fish traps (bai ni ilava) of Fiji. These two types of aquaculture represent the bookends of a socio-technological spectrum that may have existed in pre-contact Polynesia and through comparative analysis this study should produce useful data.

Budget

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The funds generated from this effort will be used to purchase remote sensing technologies that will be used to produce high resolution maps of the archaeological features I intend to document, analyze, and share with the indigenous communities I am performing research in.

Meet the Team

Damion Sailors
Damion Sailors
Graduate Student

Affiliates

Candidate for Master of Arts - University of Hawaii at Manoa GPA 4.0 Focus: Pacific Island Archaeology Bachelor of Arts - University of Hawaii at Manoa GPA 4.0 Major: Anthropology – Honors: summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa Associate in Arts Degree - Windward Community College GPA 4.0 Academic Subject Certificate: Hawaiian Studies –Language Marine Options Program Certificate: Polynesian Voyaging
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Team Bio

Soon after graduating from high school on the island of Hawaii, I seized an opportunity to go to sea aboard a traditionally rigged sailing ship based out of Kealakekua Bay that carried cargo to various island groups in the South Pacific. It utterly changed my life and instilled in me a now lifelong passion for old-fashioned, sea-borne vessels. I also realized that I felt at home at sea and that the ocean would somehow always be a part of my life. From that initial voyage a career developed, and I spent the next decade sailing around the world on different boats and in varying capacities, ultimately logging over 40,000 open ocean miles with visits to 38 different countries as a licensed captain. The more places I travelled to, and the more I learned about the marine environment, the more I became interested in how people from different regions adapt to their ocean surroundings. For example, I marveled at how Cook Islanders gathered mother of pearl shell from depths of 30+ meters by free-diving or how Hawaiians farmed fish in ponds made from stone and coral without the use of metal. All around the world people have adapted to the marine environment in their own unique and interesting ways and the questions of how and why these adaptations occurred engaged me. As time passed, the desire to more seriously pursue these interests formally and to fulfill my lifelong dream of attaining a college education grew stronger. Thus in 2003, I returned home and “swallowed the anchor” so that I could attend the University of Hawaii to study archaeology.

Damion Sailors

Soon after graduating from high school on the island of Hawaii, I seized an opportunity to go to sea aboard a traditionally rigged sailing ship based out of Kealakekua Bay that carried cargo to various island groups in the South Pacific. It utterly changed my life and instilled in me a now lifelong passion for old-fashioned, sea-borne vessels. I also realized that I felt at home at sea and that the ocean would somehow always be a part of my life. From that initial voyage a career developed, and I spent the next decade sailing around the world on different boats and in varying capacities, ultimately logging over 40,000 open ocean miles with visits to 38 different countries as a licensed captain. The more places I travelled to, and the more I learned about the marine environment, the more I became interested in how people from different regions adapt to their ocean surroundings. For example, I marveled at how Cook Islanders gathered mother of pearl shell from depths of 30+ meters by free-diving or how Hawaiians farmed fish in ponds made from stone and coral without the use of metal. All around the world people have adapted to the marine environment in their own unique and interesting ways and the questions of how and why these adaptations occurred engaged me. As time passed, the desire to more seriously pursue these interests formally and to fulfill my lifelong dream of attaining a college education grew stronger. Thus in 2003, I returned home and “swallowed the anchor” so that I could attend the University of Hawaii to study archaeology.

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