Born and raised on Oʻahu, Raina Pasatiempo took up spearfishing at the age of 27. For her, it’s more than a hobby.
“I never looked at it as a sport. I looked at it as a way of life, as something that is culturally generational. It was a thing that I really wanted to learn,” said Pasatiempo.
In Hawai‘i, spearfishing is not just a sport—it’s a deeply rooted cultural lifestyle that connects residents to the ocean, to tradition, and to food security.
While the practice is gaining popularity, longtime spearfishers worry that its deeper cultural significance is being overlooked in favor of viral trends and social media attention. Many locals stress that spearfishing requires more than just gear—it demands knowledge, respect, and connection to place.
For Pasatiempo, spearfishing provides a vital link to food sovereignty.
“I really wanted to have some kind of food security in that sense—where I wanted to be able to hunt for my own food.”
Understanding the history and meaning behind spearfishing is important to locals like Pasatiempo.
“You come here, respect here. You go into the ocean—don’t just get in there to shoot. Don’t just get in there to kill. Observe. Learn about your environment. Learn about the fishery,” she said.
Oʻahu resident Titus Salter, who learned spearfishing from his grandfather and became serious about it in his 20s, emphasizes both the scientific and safety aspects of diving.
“I’ve tried to be more involved in my community, helping to promote little safety clinics that go over the basic information around diving—usually safety-related stuff regarding things like the mammalian dive reflex,” said Salter.
He also critiques how spearfishing is being commodified.
“There are even mainland [spear] gun companies based out of Florida that will use Hawaiian names to sell [product]. It’s become a bit of a fad in a lot of ways.”
With increased participation in the sport, regulations are tightening to prevent overfishing and ensure diver safety.
“But we should also remember that these resources are finite, and we have to take this stuff very seriously,” said Salter.
Organizations like FreediveSafe Hawai‘i, run by Justin Lee and Niki Stepanek, are stepping in to promote safe diving practices and ocean conservation.
Rodrigo Barbano Weingrill, a biologist at UH Mānoa originally from Brazil, offers an outsider’s appreciation for Hawai‘i’s unique spearfishing culture.
“The local fishermen—they have so many good histories and so many traditional things that they do that we don’t have in different places. And I think that makes their culture much richer than ours.”
For many, spearfishing in Hawai‘i defies a single definition.
“Some people will consider it a family tradition. Some people will consider it a sport. Some people will make it a way of living—because you can get a fish and sell the fish, and you make it a living,” said Weingrill.
Spearfishing is a meaningful practice that can often get overlooked, but it has helped people get rooted in their culture, provide a living, and a place for reclamation.
“They wanted to feel empowered again. They wanted to have control over their life. They wanted independence. And so they choose something that relates to the ocean. And naturally that’s what we do, right? We tend to resort back to something that brings us peace,” said Pasatiempo.
