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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Menehune Fish Pond

The ʻAlekoko Fishpond, known locally as the Menehune Fishpond, near Līhuʻe, Hawaiʻi, on the island of Kauaʻi, is a historic Hawaiian fishpond. Also known as Alakoko Fishpond, it has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1973.

The pond is bounded by a 900-foot-long wall (270 m) at a large bend in Hulēʻia River. It has been deemed "the most significant fishpond on Kauaʻi, both in Hawaiian legends and folklore and in the eyes [of] Kauaʻi's people today". As the largest fishpond on Kauaʻi, it is estimated to have been constructed in the 15th century, and may be the first brackish-water fishpond in the Hawaiian Islands. Its construction is traditionally attributed to the Menehune, a mythical people said to have inhabited Hawaiʻi before the arrival of the Hawaiians.

It was first listed on the U.S. National Register in 1973; the listing included one contributing site and one contributing structure. In 2021 it was purchased by The Trust for Public Land and conveyed to Mālama Hulēʻia, which has been restoring the land since 2018. Restoration projects have included removing 26 acres (11 ha) of invasive mangrove and rebuilding a rock wall.