Hawaiian prawns live in water with rapid currents continually flowing along the river bottom. I think this was the type of river found at Hamakua in the olden days, because there was a lot of water in this river at that time. Nowadays, the water level has been reduced because of the cement levee at Kawainui Marsh where people jog.

The Hawaiians of old craved prawns. The net used for catching shrimp was called 'apai. The 'apai was used to catch all types of shrimp. The prawns were used as bait for fishing at sea. Sea fish also thought that the 'opae 'oeha'a prawns were a tasty treat.

The women and children caught prawns with nets. These types of nets were made from the 'ie'ie plant and the shrimp were gathered from these nets and stored in a basket. The work at Hamakua was rewarding to the elders. Prawns were as valuable to them as money is to us in modern times.