Aquaculture is the farming of plants and animals that live in water.
   

Fishponds in ancient Hawaii were the first of its kind in the Pacific and nothing to match it elsewhere in the Pacific. Aquaculture guaranteed food supply for the community and supplemented other fishing activities. Adept at this practice they built fishponds both inland and on the shoreline. The inland ponds were always located near a stream and were often farmed with both fish and taro. The shoreline ponds varied from brackish to salt water and farmed the type of fish typically found in those habitats. Construction of the ponds were labor intensive requiring the work of an entire community including women and children. The pond wall was made of stone or coral and built up to encircle a designated area and engineered to have a constant flow of water.

The most common marine life found in the various types of Hawaiian Fishponds.
   
 
           
  Awa Also known as the milkfish it was as important source of food for the ancient Hawaiians because of its succulent fatty flesh. Those grown in fishponds were for the chiefs and nobles. This herbivorous fish could survive in freshwater and brackish water and fed on the natural algae that grew on the bottom of the ponds.  
'O'opu A fresh water omnivorous goby these fish were greatly relished as food. They were raised in both ditches that watered taro and freshwater ponds, although they could tolerate a varying salinty in brackish ponds. Ancient Hawaiians beleived that eating 'o'opu would bring them good luck. Raised in taro fishponds these fish grew large in the protien rich habitat.
  
'Aholehole Found in both brackish and salt water and abundant in taro fishponds.. It was considered a "pig of the sea" and would be used in ceremony when real pig wasn't available. Found usually in schools by day they scatter at night to feed on free swiming crustaceans.
 
     
           
  'Opae Also known as the spineless shrimp this was one of the more popular harvested crustacean. This herbivore helped balance the presence of limu in the pond. They would eat drifting plant and animal matter and were also scavengers along the bottom of a stream, this behavior categorized the 'opae as a detritivore.   'Ama'ama was the name given to the young mullet that measured under a foot. It was a signifcant species in ancient Hawaii, there are numerous works in the language that describe the life stages and migration pattern. One of the fishes cheifly raised in ponds and coveted by royalty. They eat the seaweed and the silt to keep the pond clean.  
Limu Herbivores raised in the ponds were high consumers of limu to keep a balance of growth. These fish also became food for larger meat eating fish. Algae was also used as a seasoning when combined with sea salt and mashed kukui nuts.