fish traps of the society islands

By Daniella LoScerbo, Heather Earle, Jennifer Kahn, and Dana Lepofsky

Ancestral Connections & Geographic Extent Temporal Extent Biophysical Manipulations Target Species Ceremony & Stewardship Current Status

The Māʻohi,  the Indigenous People of the Society Islands in French Polynesia (Oliver 1974) created and maintained fish traps and weirs.  Their ancestors settled the island group at least by the 11th century AD (Anderson et al. 2019; Kahn and Sinoto 2017). The fish traps were built on various islands in the Society Islands archipelago of the South Pacific Ocean, including Tetia’roa, Borabora, Taha’a, Maupiti, Huahine, and Tahiti (Kahn, in press).

There is a particular emphasis on the construction of these features in the older islands in the Leeward group (Huahine, Taha’a, Maupiti, Borabora) which have extensive coral lagoons and less potential for extensive surplus derived from wetland agriculture (Kahn, in press).

Māʻohi fish traps have not been directly dated, however a relative chronology can be inferred from nearby dated archaeological sites. For instance, elite residential settlements in two sites Huahine and Tetia’roa expanded significantly beginning in the 1600s. By inference, the fishing structures associated with these sites were likely built around this time of social and economic expansion (Kahn, in press).

These features took a variety of forms across the archipelago. Fish weirs were built at the mouths of streams using stone, coral, wood, leaves, and nets with examples coming from Mauptiti, BoraBora, and Taha’a (Oliver 1974: 289; Kahn, in press). Fish that entered these weirs were trapped by closing the entrances and then retrieved using a scoop net (Kahn, in press). 

There were also traps built of stone, referred to as fish ponds (‘aua i‘a). These included organic fences, stakes, and gates with examples from Huahine, Maupiti, Tahiti, and Tetia’roa (Kahn, in press). Stones were placed vertically up from the sandy bottom, sometimes to depths of 2.5 metres and extending up to 60 centimetres above the high tide line (Kahn, in press; Wallin 2000). On the island of Huahine, fish ponds at Maeva village were especially elaborate where a series of stone enclosures trapped schools of fish coming down to sea from a shallow salt lake at low tide (Oliver 1974: 289; Kahn, in press). These enclosures were v-shaped, pointing downstream, with circular basins, usually at the point of the V. Fish were pulled towards the sea by ebbing tides, becoming trapped in these basins where they were easily caught.

Based on the ethnographic record, Ava (Milkfish, Chanos chanos) were the target species in these traps. However, other species of fish would have likely been trapped as well.

Over the centuries, the Māʻohii chiefdoms developed a complex system to manage and control harvests from the land and sea.  This involved a series of restrictions (rahui) that supported the elite but also served to prevent overharvesting of resources.  Balancing the tension between elite demands with the local traditional ecological knowledge and needs of the  commoners was likely part of the management systems for centuries (Lepofsky and Kahn 2017).  

Consistent with other aspects of Maohi social history, from the mid 17th century onwards, fish traps and weirs were increasingly controlled and owned by Māʻohi elites and their families.  These rights were passed down through family lines (Kahn, in press; Oliver, 1974). At times, rahui were placed on particular species or traps/weirs by these elites, to accumulate fish for feasts or during times of food scarcity. 

The various forces of contact and colonization have had significant impacts on Māʻohi traditional resource management systems.  The decline in population numbers through introduced diseases had cascading effects on the traditional production systems (e.g., Lepofsky 1999) as did the subsequent French annexation. With these changes, the fish traps that were fundamental to the traditional marine management system also ceased to be used. 

Anthropological fieldwork completed in 1925 suggested that the extensive fishponds surrounding the coast of Maeava village on Huahine were still in use and provided abundant food for the families of chiefs, suggesting some ongoing control of these traps by chiefly lineages (see Sinoto et al. 2016).

The present use of these traps is not certain, but informal accounts state that locals are still fishing from the traps (Cohen, n.d., Hindemarsh, 2017).  We look forward to connecting with local groups to learn more about their practice.

References

Anderson, A., E. Conte, I. Smith, and K. Szabo. 2019. New excavations at Fa’ahia (Huahine, Society Islands) and chronologies of central East Polynesian colonization. Journal of Pacific Archaeology 10:1-14.

Hindmarsh, G. 2017, February 11. On the trail of ancient voyaging link with Tahiti.

Hindmarsh, G. 2019, June 15. Grand, brooding Marquesas islands true South Pacific adventure.

Kahn, J.G. In Press. Fare and Fenua, Marae and Mana: The Society Islands as a Complex Chiefdom. University of Hawaiʻi Press, Honolulu.

Kahn, J.G., and Y. Sinoto. 2017. Refining the Society Island cultural sequence: Colonization period and developmental period coastal occupation on Mo’orea Island. Journal of the Polynesian Society 126: 33–60.

Kay, R. 1986. Polynesian Isle of Huahine Out to Re-Create Past. Los Angeles Times.

Lepofsky, D., and J. Kahn. 2011. Cultivating an ecological and social balance: elite demands and commoner knowledge in ancient Ma’ohi agriculture, Society Islands. American Anthropologist 113:319–335.

Oliver, D. L. 2019. Ancient Tahitian society. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

Sinoto, Y., and H. Aramata. 2016. Curve of the hook, Yoshihiko Sinoto: an archaeologist in Polynesia by Yosihiko Sinoto with Hiroshi Aramata. Translated by F. Stewart and R. Nagadō, Curve of the hook: an archaeologist in Polynesia. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

Wallin, P. 2000. Three special places in East Polynesia. The Kon-Tiki Museum occasional papers 5:101–114.