{"id":2853,"date":"2026-07-21T07:34:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T07:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2853"},"modified":"2026-07-21T07:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T07:34:28","slug":"early-halalu-oama-season-draws-fishers-to-oahus-shoreline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2853","title":{"rendered":"Early halalu, oama season draws fishers to Oahu\u2019s shoreline"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Big crowds, silver flashes in the water, and shouts of \u201chana pa\u02bba\u201d are all signs the summer halalu and oama season is well underway.<\/p>\n

Read more Auditions underway for play inspired by Hawaii\u2019s Okinawan community<\/a><\/p>\n

Fishers along O\u02bbahu\u2019s shoreline have been tracking large schools, known as bait balls, and say the action started earlier than usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis pile is pretty big at Ala Moana and then in the next couple months, all the schools are going be coming in,\u201d said fisherman Dean Uwaine.<\/p>\n

Others say they\u2019re there for the table as much as the catch.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cI fry mine in Hawaiian salt and pepper,\u201d said fisherman George Dezafra.<\/p>\n

Halalu \u2014 baby akule, also known as big-eyed scad \u2014 and oama \u2014 baby weke or goatfish \u2014 typically come close to shore in the summer as they try to avoid larger predators.<\/p>\n

The fish usually show up around July or August, but several local fishers said they started seeing them as early as May.<\/p>\n

\u201cLantern ceremony is when they seen the pile and that\u2019s when people started coming down,\u201d said fisherman Keith Matsunaga. \u201cIt\u2019s not every year that they come in Ala Moana. They might come in Kakaako side, Kewalos, even right now they had a big pile before the seal gave birth at Kaimana.\u201d<\/p>\n

How long the schools stay can depend on conditions in the water, including habitat, food availability and currents, marine biologists said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re likely spawning year round, but there\u2019s definitely an increase in activity during the spring and that\u2019s why we see so many during the summer,\u201d said marine biologist Keith Kamikawa.<\/p>\n

Read more Native Hawaiian Convention returns to Honolulu with workshops, marketplace<\/a><\/p>\n

Kamikawa also pointed to past seasons as an example of how active it can get.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2014 or 2015, we had a really massive bait season \u2014 the best it was, people said, in 20 or 30 years,\u201d Kamikawa said. \u201cOama were pushed up in canals. They were in the Ala Wai. Barracuda and papio were coming in and whacking the oama school.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kamikawa said this being an El Ni\u00f1o year could mean warmer waters and a longer season, though stormier weather could also move the schools away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere might be offshore storms or currents that maybe push them in a different place. September is when we see a slow down usually. We\u2019re going to have some good years; we\u2019re going to have some bad years,\u201d Kamikawa said.<\/p>\n

And for many fishers, word of where the fish are running is still passed the old-fashioned way.<\/p>\n

\u201cFishing friends right, that\u2019s what it is,\u201d Matsunaga said. \u201cWord gets out slowly by slowly. So if there\u2019s a school there and they\u2019re biting, I going be calling some of these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery summer they\u2019re here, then they go away and come back the next summer,\u201d Dezafra said.<\/p>\n

Read more Case says shipping interests \u2018out to get me\u2019 by funding Keohokalole<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Large schools of halalu and oama usually show up around July or August, but several local fishers said they started seeing them as early as May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nEarly halalu, oama season draws fishers to Oahu\u2019s shoreline - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2853\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early halalu, oama season draws fishers to Oahu\u2019s shoreline - 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