Our tour guide was Pierre Kleiber, the husband of my student Nan. Pierre is a fisheries biologist, recently retired from the National Marine Fisheries Service. He is well known to the fisherman and those associated with the auction.

Fish auctions take place daily in Honolulu. The catch varies depending upon what's been caught by the long-line boats.

"Long-line" fishing is an incredibly accurate description of these boats. The fishing lines/nets/hooks will trail the boats from 50-75 miles behind the boat. Who knew?

I have trouble keeping my ear pods untangled; I can't imagine how they keep the fishing line untangled!

Question: How long are the boats out to sea? Answer: 2-3 weeks at a time; then they are in dock for 2-3 days for supplies and repairs before going out again.

Question: Do you catch many sharks? Answer: Yes, and there are a lot of sharks in the ocean. Often times the sharks will take a bite out of the fish on the long-line.

Question: What happens if dolphins eat the fish off the lines? Answer: We move the boat away from the dolphins or lose our entire catch.

We were told to wear close-toed shoes, or boots, and to bring a warm jacket, or be prepared to be chilly. The fish are on ice; there is water and ice on the floor, and people moving about with trolleys full of fish.

Most of the fish on pallets are sold individually. Only small fish are sold by the pallet or by the bin. Local stores and restaurants have buyers at the Fish Auction who throw down chits to identify the fish they purchase. The price of the fish, per pound, vary by type and quality of the individual fish. 

The fish leave the auction house within minutes of being sold. Within the hour we saw planes taking off from Honolulu International Airport, a few miles from the auction, shipping some of the recently purchased fish to the US mainland and foreign countries.

The trip was fascinating in many ways. The size of some of the fish is amazing, and although this catch was considered small, its size was quite impressive to the uninitiated. That day, there were hundreds of swordfish weighing up to 500 pounds.

We saw several varieties of Ahi (tuna) and billfish (Swordfish & Marlin), along with MahiMahi, Ono (Wahoo), Monchong (Sickle Pomfret), Onaga (Longtail Red Snapper) and Opakapaka (Pink Snapper).

While most of the fish were drab in color, the Opah, also known as the Moonfish, was in stunning color. There was just one 44"L x 32"H x 5"D Opah in the room that day and it was aglow in pinks and grays.

After the market, we had breakfast at Nico's Pier 38 across the street. I had the fresh fish omelet (ahi) and highly recommend you dine there the next chance you get. Nico's is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I haven't yet painted any of the photos I took that day, but these fish have stayed on my mind. My friend and my student, Linda Bachrach painted this rendition from her photo of the Opah when we got to class that morning.

I have been painting more Honu (turtles) lately. Here is my most recent painting of the Honu entitled At the Turtle Cleaning Station.

At the Turtle Cleaning Station

There's always something interesting to see and do here in Hawaii and I promise to share what I can with you.