The Best Caretaker Frank Farm

“Fishermen need to stay involved, keep their cool, try to see the big picture as well as the little picture, and need to be a little bit of a diplomat. We need to somehow convince the people on the other side that we desire a healthy, sustainable fishery.”

This is sound advice from Frank Farm, a man who spent his entire life representing fishermen of all types in an effort to make their experiences safer, easier, and free from over-regulation and excessive government intervention.

Frank began fishing as a teenager in the 1940’s. Over the years, he became knowledgeable in all types of fishing—trolling, bottom fishing, spearfishing, netting, and would eventually expand from recreational to commercial fishing.  But, Frank always had a special affinity for diving.

Frank grew up freedive spearfishing, but became intrigued with SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) after he read about it in Popular Mechanics Magazine.  So much so, immediately after it became available to the public, he and his dive partner, Al Kekoa, chipped in and bought one double-hose “Aqua Lung” from GASPRO to share between them. “We were on the deck of my 19’ redwood boat,” Frank remembers, “we jan ken po’d to see who would use it first. I believe it was about 1949 or 1950. I finally got to explore what was at the back of the caves I had previously freedove at 60-80ft. I was in such awe I didn’t spear a single fish.” 

As SCUBA technology progressed and more divers began to use the equipment, the need for safety education became apparent. “People were getting the bends because they weren’t properly informed or were not taking proper precautions.” Frank states. “My friend, Ed Hayashi, just became a NAUI Instructor, he and others got the divers together to instruct them and we eventually formed Alii Holo Kai Dive Club in 1972.”

Alii Holo Kai

With Frank as President, Alii Holo Kai, which translates “The chief that roams the sea” continued to progress and soon joined the Hawaii Council of Dive Clubs. At its peak, there were over 20 organized dive clubs in Hawaii. Frank would eventually preside over the Council and was instrumental in securing 16 team victories in the US National Spearfishing Championships.

“We got involved in anything affecting diving and fishing.” Frank states. “We were now representing over 1400 divers. For example, we successfully lobbied the legislature to build a boat ramp in Hawaii Kai. Before that we were launching off the dirt.”

“Walter Tamashiro of Tamashiro Market got involved with us so we gained a greater understanding about the marketplace as many of the divers were getting involved in commercial or semi-commercial activities. We successfully lobbied against the sales restriction of speared fish. It wasn’t easy.” Frank points out. “Our initial encounters with the legislature were often very comical. We had to learn how the legislature functioned, how to propose legislation and bills and how to lobby to support them.  As time went by we got more savvy, learning to become acquainted with the leadership: the Speaker of the House, the Senate President and the Chairmen of key committees.”

“Dollah, dollah,” is how Frank Farm describes filling the coffers of Alii Holo Kai. It was amazing how much money we would raise. Maybe at the time the State was trying to place restrictions on SCUBA air, so all the divers got together to discuss what to do. We would just pass the hat around.”

WESPAC

Frank’s leadership did not go unnoticed. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council asked Frank to participate in committee actions. Frank signed up for an advisory committee and eventually got nominated to become a council member where he served three 3-year terms.

“That’s when the picture changed.” Frank suggests. “Now you’re not just talking about the Main Hawaiian Islands, you’re talking about 200 miles out. We were dealing with foreign governments and their fishing fleets. WESTPAC was very controversial. You just can’t please everyone. You try to support the fishery, protect it and try to make it sustainable, but at the same token you try to protect America’s interest, particularly when other countries are not as restrictive. It was a real eye opener to view the fishery at that level. I wish I could have done more and I give credit to the good people of the council. A lot of them are misjudged by different groups because they don’t know the entire story or they are one-sided in their views. For the most part, the council members are sincere.”

FAD Buoys

Frank Farm was also responsible for deploying Hawaii’s first FADs (Fish Aggregating Device). The State put out a contract to deploy the FADs and having recently purchased a 70+ foot vessel it piqued Frank’s interest. “I bid very low because this was something new.” He said, “Prior to this it was on an experimental basis. The National Marine Fisheries had one FAD out somewhere on the Banks to test if it would attract fish. And it appeared to be effective. I went real cheap on the bid because I thought this would help the fishery by attracting fish and save time for the trolling boats by giving them a fishing destination.”

The buoys were made out of huge tires from the sugarcane tractors. They filled the tires to make them float. “They were monstrosities.” Frank recalls “ER Cross,  Kenji Ego, Al Katekaru, Bob Nishimoto and few others from Aquatic Resources were involved.”

Frank set buoys from the Big Island to Niihau. It took several excursions to deploy the FADs on the various islands. Frank viewed it as a huge learning experience. So he was happy just to break even. “We learned a lot about deploying heavy objects.” Frank remembers, “Henry Ching helped to design breakaways so we could drop the heavy anchors.” 

“We used to troll as we traveled and every time we hit port we would contact the local church or whatever to donate the fish to them. So we made a lot of new friends also. We also gained a good reputation with the State and the community.” Frank adds. “At least I’d like to think.”. 

To keep productive Frank got a USCG Masters 100 ton  license and was involved in salvage operations, OTEC and other research projects for a few years before selling the vessel.

Bag Netting

Fishermen are the most innovative people. Frank Farm is no exception.

“Diving with Harry Uyemura, Stanley Takahashi, Kats Fujii. We would study the fish and wonder how we could catch them beside spearing them or netting them the old fashioned way with big surrounds.” He recalls. “So we started considering the fence and bag method. David Niau from Hauula was already using this type of fishing which involved setting up the nets and then guiding and controlling the fish. You needed to know which way the fish would go, plus you have to study the current because you only had a limited window when the nets would stand tall enough to complete the operation.”

“In the beginning it was very interesting.” Frank laughs. “The nets we designed were monstrosities and it was just a comedy down there. The fish were laughing at us. Until we finally figured out how to separate the nets and learned which fish would stay within the lower part of the water column. Once we perfected one, we later figured out how to do other species.”

“I remember the first time we came in with a load of weke ula and people were wondering how deep we were diving for them. But you know fishermen kind of keep it to themselves, but it was kind of deep and I guess that’s how I managed to get the bends one day.” Frank chuckles.

“I knew something was wrong because the bottom half of my body got numb and I couldn’t even stand.” He recounts. Frank was rushed to the Pearl Harbor Recompression Chamber for treatment.

Hyperbaric Chamber

He was told he would never walk again, but eventually recovered. Frank’s NAUI instructor friend, Ed Hayashi, was also working in the physiology Department at the University of Hawaii. He introduced Frank to Dr. Beckman and they discussed the State of Hawaii’s need for a chamber.

So it was back to the Legislature. Frank Farm, the dive clubs and the University of Hawaii joined forces, successfully lobbying for initial interim funding. But there were a lot of skeptics.

The recompression chamber opened in 1983 in a warehouse at Kewalo Basin with a couple of paid employees and a bunch of volunteers. It proved successful and in 1995 a new system was installed at Kuakini Hospital. “It is a proven fact the Hyperbaric Chamber saves lives and it’s not just for bends victims, it is also useful for various other medical conditions.” Frank states. As part of the UH Medical School, he serves as the Director at the Hyperbaric Chamber at Kuakini Hospital until today.

Frank’s Message

“With increased ocean activities, the competition for the resources is much greater now. The fishing community needs  to keep informed, try to organize to some degree, open their minds and hearts as to how to best manage the resources. They also need to convince the other managers of the resource, whether it be the State or Fed, that we who fish and love the ocean know it quite well. Many researchers don’t have the practical experience that fishermen do. I’ve done 20,000+ dives. That’s a lot of time to study the fish. You know how they react. What they do at certain times of the year, in certain currents, during certain moon phases. You try to tie it all together. Basically you become a fish. People with this knowledge should be really involved in protecting and managing the fishery.”

“It’s not to say researchers and scientist are not to be involved. They do the best they can, but they get paid for what they do. Fishermen do it because that is what they want or need to do to feed their family or community. They are more in tune to it, I think. No offense, but I’ve seen scientists on bottom fishing trips and they don’t always fish at the most opportune times. Maybe they want to sleep at night when the fish are biting best. Whereas, the fisherman who goes out at night knows what he needs to sacrifice in order to be successful.”

“This is why the fishermen need to stay involved and work together as a group. Commercial fishermen feed the public. It is unnecessary to restrict their ways when we know certain species will sustain itself. They have been for all these years because the fishermen have the knowledge to manage it responsibly. There are going to be some ‘bad eggs’ but it is everyone’s responsibility to help them along so they can do a better job in taking care of the fishery.”

“We don’t want to deplete the resource, but you need to be involved or others will run right over you. Learn what you can and respect the ocean and it’s inhabitants. Contrary to the opinions of many others, the responsible, informed, and knowledgeable fisher is the best caretaker.”