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Aerial Image of Kawela area, Molokaʻi

1993 NOAA imagery, processed and mosaicked by USGS

This aerial image shows the portion of south Molokaʻi coast from Kamiloloa (left) to Kawela (right). The south coast of Molokaʻi has the highest concentration of ancient fishponds in the Hawaiian islands. Once used as a highly sucessful form of pond aquaculture, many of the fishponds are now filling in with sediment washed down from the highlands. Non-indigenous Mangrove trees have taken root in many of the fishponds, their root system helping to trap even more sediment, resulting in the loss of the ponds for aquaculture. Recently, a few fishponds have been restored by the State of Hawaiʻi and private organizations.

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