As part of the conclusion to the Asia Pacific Career Conference, employers and their prospective employees helped pull the nets for a Hukilau at Hukilau Beach on Saturday, March 10. Community members came to teach more about the event, including long-time local residents Bob and BJ Kahawaii.
Bob Kahawaii said his family had been doing Hukilaus every year since he came back from his 30-year service in the U.S. Navy. “When I came back, we tried to find an activity for our family that would become a tradition.
“It’s not a race and it’s not about the amount of fish you catch when we do this. It is about coming together as a family or community and working together to create this experience.”
Keni Kalama, relationship manager of Alumni and Career Services, said the Hukilau was the perfect activity to showcase the community’s culture.
He related the APCC to the event when he addressed the employers. “The employers can be the fishermen, and the students can be the fish. That is kind of the idea of why we wanted to do a fishing event. I just want you to know that our students are delicious fish. We would love for you to hire them, to mentor them and to take them in.
“People in Laie have been doing this forever, especially Bob Kahawaii and his family. We are grateful for them and the time they took to come do this for us.”
Kahawaii said they do the Hukilau as a family every Memorial Day, but open it up to the community during other times of the year. “Usually we do a Hukilau in September or October for the donors of the university. All of my children pretty much went to BYUH.”
BJ Kahawaii said, “When our family does the Hukilau, we usually have anywhere from 50 to 90 people on the beach.” As a member of the Laie Community Association, she said she also integrated this event into the community’s Pioneer Day celebrations in July.
With more than 200 people attending during the windy morning hours, Bob Kahawaii and his team divided everyone into two lines, younger people to one end of the beach and those 55 and older were sent to the other end. He said the younger side ends up doing most of the work.
Bob Kahawaii explained the process before the fishing began. “On the bottom of these nets, there is a leaf from the tea leaf plant that we have here in Hawaii. We use it for many things, but the dry leaf we use for scaring the fish. That is part of the Hukilau. The ‘lau’ is what we call the leaf interwoven in the rope. ‘Huki’ means pull, so that is where we get Hukilau.”
He said it isn’t too rare for a shark to end up in the net. “If it looks long and has a long pointy fin on its back, it is one! Every once in a while, we get one in here,” he joked.
Bob Kahawaii’s team wore matching shirts and consisted of divers who watched the fish and net while it was in the water, someone who went by boat to release the net, and shore captains who managed the two pulling lines that pull the net area to make it smaller. Throughout the event, the divers would signal to the shore captains to halt any pulling if the net was caught on coral.
Bob said, “We have about 900 feet of net, and another 600 to 700 feet of lau. The idea is to watch the net and make sure it doesn’t get caught on coral and rip.
“Back in the day, we didn’t have very much money for net so we took care of our net. Because they were made out of cotton, cotton soaked up a lot of water and it would get heavy. Over time we have evolved to monofilament netting, which is a lot lighter.”
The net drew closer and the two lines converged, bringing in the results of the catch. Sister Sharon Gray, a senior missionary from Utah who attended the event with her husband, said around 30 of the fish were goatfish, one was a long and skinny coronet fish and one was a larger chub fish. The coronet fish was later released back into the ocean.
When asked about the amount of fish caught, BJ said, “We did good today. Of course, back in the day they would catch hundreds, but we did good given the conditions of the water and amount of fish here today.”
Participants and onlookers alike rushed to the nets to pick up the fish and take photos with them, a few of them were even brave enough to put the fish in their mouths or kiss them for the photo. This was a tradition “back in the days” even if the fish was still squirming around, said Bob Kahawaii.
Karina Loeza, a junior from California studying business and entrepreneurship, said, “The trick to putting the fish in your mouth is to not think about it. Just know that you are going to have a fishy taste in your mouth for the rest of the day. It’s about the experience.”
The last fish to be placed in the catch bucket was the only chub fish caught, the largest of them all. Participants passed it around and took photos of them kissing it and didn’t seem to mind or notice it had poop hanging out of its body.
The Hukilau was created to raise funds for the construction of a new chapel, said Bob Kahawaii.
According to a 2009 Deseret News article by Steve Fidel, a local chapel had burnt to the ground, possibly due to an oil lamp, and saints were forced to congregate in a social hall to ride out World War II. Fidel writes, “In January 1948, the Laie Ward was anxious to rebuild the chapel and launched the Hukilau to raise money. Tickets were printed and left with tour groups in Honolulu to lure them to the windward side of the island.” Bob Kahawaii said the tourist attraction would later become what is now the Polynesian Cultural Center.
“They had food and entertainment during the [Hukilau]. That pretty much transitioned over to the PCC. The only thing they don’t do anymore is the Hukilau. That is up to us. It is a family and community event. You can’t pull all of this by yourself,” he said.
BYUH President John Tanner arrived at the end of the event for photos with the fish and to talk to APCC employers. Fruit refreshments were also served by Alumni and Career Services to help take the fishy taste out of people’s mouths.
Writer: Kevin Brown