Local I'a: A Community Supported Fishery

01/12/2026

Come build community with us! Enjoy cornmeal coated fried invasive snapper, local greens and pohole fern, delicious vegan doughnuts, freshly pounded poi by our friends and refreshing awa to wash it down.

Support local small businesses and feel nourished while making a positive impact on local reef sustainability, local small business economy, as knowing well as knowing a portion of our sales will be donated to Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center. They are helping out people who don’t know their voice can be heard and making sure they know they rights. MLK fought so hard to get freedom and rights for underserved peoples- let us not forget and honor his work in remembrance on this coming MLK day 💙💜💗

11/29/2025

11/09/2025

Community coming together to be here for those affected by the government shutdown. We are here to get local fish to local people even when they may not be able to pay for it. Mahalos and Pacific Island Fisheries Group for helping us get more fish to people tomorrow. Spread the word and come down to get fish or to help give fish. Together we can make positive impacts for the good of our community 🤙🏼

Mahalos to our team, our fishers, and our customers for helping make this happen!

***turns out we will have aku filet and parts like k**a and bones to giveaway too because we had a flat tire on our way to Sunday market 🤪funny how things work out huh?

11/05/2025

Happy International fisher women’s day! 🎣

Fisher women worldwide contribute over 50% of the fisheries economy — across pre-catch, catch, and post-catch work. They are the knowledge-keepers, the market leaders, the cultural anchors of fisher communities. Yet their labour and leadership remain invisible in policy, institutions, and statistics.

Local I’a has been getting local fish to local people almost every week for 10years, operated and owned by a woman. As a fish lady since I was very young, I am proud to be a fishmonger driven by sustainability, food security, and fair trade- not the company’s bottom line. We aim to connect our community to their seafood and those who work hard to get it to their tables. Worldwide seafood industries do not and often operate with inhumane labor practices that are covered up by green washed labeling.

Let’s rise together for rights, dignity & justice for all fisher peoples of the world! 🌍🐟

09/14/2025

Did you know Hawaiian uku is ranked Best Choice by ? If you haven’t tried uku before, fishermen have been bring it to us for the past few weeks, so now’s your time!

As an island nation and an ocean culture, there is so much pride to be had in the ocean resources that feed us. And our ability to enjoy these fish not only relies on the fishermen, but also on the continual mālama and laulima of so many players in our community of ocean conservationists. So when you pick up your fish from us, extend your mahalo to the fishermen and all those protectors that are fighting to make sure our reefs stay abundant, our fish stay healthy, and our waters can continue to feed our communities going forward.
cwg .coalition

08/25/2025

One week away! We’ll be having our Local I‘a Fish Fry with next Monday on Labor Day 5-8pm or until sold out! Come join us at our kitchen behind Mud Hen Water in Kaimuki.

08/23/2025

It’s an aku weekend! and brought these in for you guys, and just look at that purple shine on that’s skin.

08/16/2025

We’ll be hosting another ta‘ape fish fry!

This Labor Day, September 1st between 5-8pm, come get a $12 plate of fried ta‘ape at our shop in Kaimuki behind Mud Hen Water! Our friends will also be selling poi, ‘awa, and vegan donuts () to round out a filling meal.

We had a huge turnout last time so come early in case we sell out of fish! See y’all there 🤙🏼

08/16/2025

Got the reds, yellows, and blues this week. When winds die down, we get whole fish!

Fishermen Jordan, Gregg, and Bryson brought us menpachi, aweoweo, opelu, ehu, taape, and toau.

Not to mention the aku, ono, mahi, marlin, and uku filets we got in the fridge, too.

It’s a week to enjoy the abundance of our local waters.

08/10/2025

By popular demand, we’ll be hosting another ta‘ape fish fry!

This Labor Day, September 1st between 5-8pm, come get a $12 plate of fried ta‘ape at our shop in Kaimuki behind Mud Hen Water! Our friends will also be selling poi, ‘awa, and vegan donuts () to round out a filling meal.

We had a huge turnout last time so come early in case we sell out of fish! See y’all there 🤙🏼

08/09/2025

The most prized fish in the islands! Zach caught a spell of low winds and caught us a few big onaga with his daughter.

We’re cutting the smallest and biggest for filets and butchers cuts available for sale, and you can find the rest available at this coming week!

06/21/2025

Eat like a fish and feel good about it! Akule are our islands’ version of sardines or anchovies, bringing a healthy oiliness to our plates and our diets. Meanwhile, akule and the related opelu are some of the most sustainable seafood choices for us. They’re low on the food chain, live short lives, and have abundant and resilient populations which can withstand regulated fishing pressure. All the while akule make a more affordable option than other more-recognizable fish in our local markets.

Industrial-scale tuna fisheries use nets to catch entire schools of akule and opelu to catch bigger fish that can rake in more money, but we’d rather take these guys for ourselves, line-caught and guilt-free. We love to pan fry or grill these guys, what about you?

This week our akule comes from a new fisherman to the Local I‘a network: Gregg Matsuura fishes on a 26-foot boat out of Koko Marina, has been fishing for 40 years(!). Always stoked to have new guys bringing us fish nice enough to brag about.