Alika is a Native Hawaiian with a strong connection to his island home of Oahu, where he was born and raised. He comes from a family with a long history of subsistence fishing, and this heritage has shaped his deep appreciation for the marine environment. Alika pursued his passion for marine biology and aquaculture at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where he actively participated in the Scientific Diving group. During his time at university, he conducted valuable coral reef surveys across the Hawaiian islands.

A man who grew up in MolokaI talks about his family background, fishing, his schooling, family life, and moving to Honolulu. He describes his experience of the 1946 tidal wave that hit the east end of Molokai.

Albert Louis Stanley was born August 31, 1930 in Hilo, Hawai'i. His father, Clyde LeGrand Stanley, was originally from Missouri. He journeyed to Hawai'i as a young man in 1916 in search of excitement Settling flrst in Hilo working for Hawaiian Dredging Company, Clyde Stanley married Rosina Bassler, a public health nurse in Hilo. The couple eventually moved to Laupahoehoe, where he worked as a maintenance superintendent for Hawaiian Consolidated Railway, Ltd.

John Vegas, Puerto Rican, the sixth of fifteen children, was born on November 30, 1912, in North Kohala, Hawaii.  His parents immigrated to North Kohala from Puerto Rico in 1901.  Antone Vegas, John's father,worked as a laborer at Kohala's Union Mill Plantation.  In 1924, the family moved to Honolulu where Antone Vegas worked as a track layer for Honolulu Rapid Transit (HRT).

Agustina (Abaya) Villa, Ilocano, was born in Dingras, !locos Norte, Philippines on August 28, 1893 . The fifth of six children, Agustina helped support the family by taking in laundry from the people of her barrio. She also sewed clothing. Agustina married Antonio Villa in 1913 . In 1924, Antonio left for Hawaii to find work in the sugarcane fields. He was assigned to Lahaina, Maui. Agustina remained in the Philippines and continued sewing and laundering until 1931, when she and two of her children joined Antonio in Lahaina .

David Souza, Portuguese, was born February 7, 1906, in Honolulu. His father, a former storekeeper, died when David was three years old. The family then moved to Kalihi Valley, where David has lived ever since. He attended schools in Kalihi Valley and Kalihi Waena and graduated from St. Louis in 1926. During this time, David participated in community- and school-sponsored sports. After graduating from St. Louis, David worked as a wharf clerk for the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company. He remained there until 1952. He then became a wharf clerk for Thea H. Davies and Co., Ltd.

Sabas T. Jamito, Tagalog, was born in Camarines Norte, Philippines on January 12, 1912. At the age of five months, he and his family immigrated to the Big Island of Hawaii. Until 1922, when the family moved to Hilo, Sabas lived on various sugar plantations: Papaaloa, Paauilo, Ookala, and Olaa. While in Hilo, Sabas helped his father in the sugarcane fields and earned money as a shoe shine boy. He attended Kapiolani School, Hila Union School, Hilo Intermediate, and Hila High. In 1929, Sabas began his boxing career in Hilo, making five dollars a fight.

Akira Otani, born in Honolulu, Hawai'i in 1921, grew up in a predominantly Japanese neighborhood with a strong fishing industry presence. His father ran a fish stall and wholesale business, while his mother worked in the fish and pineapple canneries. Otani's father had little involvement at home due to his work schedule, and Otani and his siblings had to take care of themselves. He attended Pohukaina School, a Japanese-language school with strict discipline, and later pursued a college preparatory program at Washington Intermediate School and McKinley High School.

In his role as Director of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Dr. Seki provides the science direction and oversight of research activities that support stewardship of living marine resources in the vast expanse of the Pacific Islands Region. Since joining NOAA Fisheries in 1980, Dr. Seki has conducted extensive fisheries, oceanographic, and ecosystem research on many marine species in the Pacific. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 scientific papers and participated in over 20 domestic and international research surveys.

Oral history interview with Dennis Kamikawa.