By JOHN BURNETT
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
“There’s not a lot of good news about Hawaii’s fisheries, but this is a really good story,” Teresa “Teri” Tico, a Kauai attorney and documentary filmmaker, said about her short film “Fishing Pono: Living in Harmony with the Sea.”
The 26-minute film, made for PBS Hawaii, will pair another environmental documentary “Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Palace Theater. The double-feature is part of the Hawaii International Film Festival, which opens Wednesday and runs through Oct. 29.
Tico, a part-time Hilo resident and the film’s co-producer, went to Molokai with director Mary Lambert to investigate what modern-day Hawaiians, led by Kelson “Mac” Poepoe, are doing to ensure their near-shore fisheries survive for future generations.
“We have a narrator, Mauna Kea Trask, a young Hawaiian who wants to find out if what he heard about Molokai fisheries is true, that they were able to restore their fishing grounds using traditional practices,” Tico said Wednesday. “… So we went there and we met them and we found out what they did to bring their fish back and then we talked to some other people on some other islands, like Kauai, at Haena, where the Hawaiian fishermen are following the model that Mac Poepoe set up on Molokai to bring back their near-shore fisheries.”
A United Nations study found that global fish populations are on the brink of collapse, with more than 70 percent of the world’s fish either fully exploited or deleted. Tico said that Poepoe told her it’s not too late to reverse the trend and that his advice is, “Go back to the old ways, man.”
“He was able to convince the community that they had to use these traditional methods if they wanted to have any fish to eat in the future. And it’s a successful program that has been recognized by the state,” Tico said.
“What they’re doing is monitoring the fishing grounds, and when a species is becoming too limited, they’ll have a kapu season,” she continued. “They never take the fish with eggs. They don’t take the biggest fish; they don’t take the smallest fish. These are all traditional conservation methods that go back hundreds of years. They’re very simple; they make a lot of sense. But who’s going to do it when people can go out and catch fish and sell them for a lot of money. But on Molokai, where they have more of a subsistence lifestyle, they do it, or they wouldn’t have food.
“It’s a great story. There are so many environmental films that are about doom and gloom and rising sea levels and climate change and melting glaciers. And I just thought I want to do a story about an environmental problem we have that somebody has done something to turn the tide, so to speak, and improve the situation. And Mac Poepoe on Molokai has done that, and he’s a great role model.”
The film, two years in the making, will air on PBS Hawaii in early 2014. Asked what she learned in making the film, Tico replied: “What I learned is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to save our planet. It just takes will; it just takes the intent to follow through with what you know is good for the planet. … Basically, that’s all it takes. It’s so simple; it’s so logical. We don’t need any complicated science to tell us what we need to know to preserve and protect and restore our resources.”
Tickets are on sale now. A HIFF pass for all film screenings is $75. For individual films, regular Palace prices apply. Call 934-7010 to order tickets with a credit card or visit the box office between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.hilopalace.com.
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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Hawaii International Film Festival Schedule at Palace Theater
Wednesday, Oct. 23
5:30 p.m. Opening night reception with director Keo Woolford
7:30 p.m.: The Haumana, directed by Keo Woolford, drama, 95 minutes, English and Hawaiian
Thursday, Oct. 24
5 p.m.: OLA, directed by Matthew Nagato, documentary, 79 minutes
Sending Aloha Abroad, directed by Sean Aronson, documentary, 27 minutes
7:30 p.m.: Fishing Pono: Living in Harmony with the Sea, directed by Mary Lambert, documentary, 26 minutes
Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, directed by Angela Sun, documentary, 57 minutes
Friday, Oct. 25
6 p.m.: Furever, directed by Amy Finkel, documentary, 80 minutes
8 p.m.: Lion Ark, directed by Tim Phillips, United Kingdom, documentary, 97 minutes
Saturday, Oct. 26
2 p.m.: The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt, Australia and Laos, Asian cinema, 96 minutes, Laotian (English subtitles)
Sunday, Oct. 27
2 p.m.: Go Grandriders, directed by Tien-hau Hua, Taiwan, 75 minutes, documentary, Taiwanese (English subtitles)
4 p.m.: The Loving Story, directed by Nancy Buirski, 77 minutes, documentary
7 p.m.: One Night Surprise, directed by Jin Yimeng, China, romantic comedy, 108 minutes, Mandarin (English subtitles)
Monday, Oct. 28
5 p.m.: The God of Ramen, directed by Takashi Innami, Japan, documentary, 90 minutes, Japanese (English subtitles)
7 p.m.: If Only (Sana Dati), directed by Jerrold Tarog, Philippines, drama, 100 minutes, Tagalog (English subtitles)
Tuesday, Oct. 29
5 p.m.: Oshin, directed by Shin Togashi, Japan, drama, 107 minutes, Japanese (English subtitles)
7:30 p.m. Jadao, directed by Amit Gupta, United Kingdom, comedy/drama, 90 minutes
A HIFF pass for all film screenings is $75. For individual films, regular Palace prices apply. For more information, call 934-7010 or visit http://www.hilopalace.com.