Ancient Hawaiian aquaculture

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a fish tank? So, a long, long time ago in Hawaii, people had a very special way of growing fish in the ocean. They created a big tank in the ocean that was called a "loko i'a" which means "fishpond" in Hawaiian.

The way they made this fishpond was really smart. They used a special type of rock called lava to build a wall around the pond, but they didn't just put the rocks on top of each other like building blocks. Instead, they used a special method called "lauhala," which means they wove together branches from a type of tree called "hala." This made the wall strong enough to stand up against the waves in the ocean.

Now, the people didn't just leave the fish to swim around in the pond on their own. They took care of them like they were pets. They fed them special food made from plants and small shrimp, and they even made sure the water was clean by putting in special plants that cleaned the water. This was really important because if the water wasn't clean, the fish would be sick and might even die.

When the fish got big enough, the people caught them and ate them. But they didn't just catch any old fish. They knew which fish were good to eat and which ones they should leave alone. Isn't that cool?

So, that's how the ancient Hawaiians did aquaculture. They were really smart and cared a lot about the fish they grew. It was an important part of their culture and helped them live happy and healthy lives.