Over the past two years, members of the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group (CWG) have been supporting the making of the film, OCEAN, with David Attenborough, (Silverback Films) as it highlights Papahānaumokuākea and the success of large-scale marine managed areas in countering the negative effects of large-scale industrial fishing in re-seeding our oceans.
Last week, our Co-Chair, Pelika Andrade, who was featured in the film with two other CWG members ‘Aulani Wilhelm and Mehana Hind, attended the Australian premiere of the film in Sydney. Andrade was invited to join a post-screening panel to discuss the film, the message it holds, and her thoughts as an Indigenous woman regarding Papahānaumokuākea and large-scale protected areas as a solution. She shared that these large-areas are extremely important to counter the bad behavior of large industrial fishing practices but they are in no way the cure. “Large Scale protected areas are a necessity because of our collective bad behavior and the industries our lifestyles create. I don’t dream of a world filled with large scale protected areas… I dream of a world where they are no longer necessary.”
Through her participation in the CWG and supporting field work in various sites in the monument, Pelika was able to join the film crew on Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), including producer/director Tony Nowlan and cinematographer Toby Strong, both who, Andrade shared, “… are incredible at what they do, but most importantly are beautiful human beings.” She continues, “It was an absolute pleasure and honor to talk, dream, and remember with them as we dove into the current need to advocate for more protections but understand that these ways of protections are not, and should not be the end goal; they are just a temporary bandaid for a much larger issue: our collective inability to behave!”
Pelika continues: “My hope for the film is that it sheds light on the destructive nature of large scale extraction, the “free for all” harmful mentality in international waters, and hope that our oceans are resilient and we can make a change!”
