Bringing an abandoned Hawaiian fishpond back to full-scale production is “bust okole work,” Herb Lee says, but if you’re talking about the Waikalua Loko I‘a fishpond in Kaneohe, he is willing to do the back-breaking job for the duration.

Lee, who grew up less than a mile away from the pond in the 1960s, took an interest in the abandoned site in the late 1980s when a Japanese investor proposed controversial plans to expand the Bayview Golf Course. A conflict management consultant at the time, Lee had been brought in to mediate the conflict between the investor and local residents over the fishpond’s future. When the city declined to assume management of the fishpond, Lee suggested creating a nonprofit to handle the property. In 1995, a community nonprofit was created, with Lee as a member.

Lee now runs that nonprofit — the Pacific American Foundation — and has been working to bring the 11-acre fishpond back to full production status ever since.

It hasn’t been easy.

“We had to reconstruct a wall, we had to remove invasive species because of sea level rise, and 90% of it is done with volunteer help,” he said. “Water quality is an issue, you know, there’s lots of other challenges, ecological challenges that we’re figuring (out).”

The organization also runs a robust education program for students through college age, emphasizing the cultural importance of the site. Financing the necessary renovations, maintenance and programming is another continuing challenge. One of the major ways Lee helps with the expenses is to bring the community together at a concert fundraiser where attendees can learn about the fishpond and listen to local musicians under a full moon while overlooking Kaneohe Bay. The “7th Kanikapila o Mahina” concert will be presented Saturday.

“It’s not a big crowd kind of event,” Lee said, explaining that the fishpond’s hilly lawn can comfortably hold around 300 people. “It was a way for us to say ‘thank you’ to the community, and as a fundraiser for us to continue the programming at the fishpond (of) education and stewardship.”

Jerry Santos and Kamuela Kimokeo are this year’s headliners. Joining them are Hawaiian slack key master George Kuo, Kailua Moon (Danny Carvalho and Nani Edgar Carvalho) and Lee’s own trio, Hawai‘i Loa. The show will be a reunion for Lee and Kuo; they played together as founding members of the Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning Kipapa Rush Band in the early 1980s.

Santos, born and raised on the Windward side, feels a deep connection to the area’s fishponds.

“During the period of time of my grandparents and my parents — and certainly through my generation — those things kind of fell by the wayside,” Santos said.

“I did know of the fishpond in my childhood, being there and seeing it (then), but not the efforts they put into it since then. So my point of being there is to support the program, and to really get to see what they’re doing, and to come and play some music,” he said. “They’re on the water, and there’s a million songs about being out in the moonlight, but you don’t get too many of these kinds of things where you’re actually out in that kind of environment. Music with that environment on a full moon night should be pretty magic.”

Native Hawaiians built and maintained almost 500 fishponds during some 800 years of operation, Lee said, but as the Hawaiian population dropped, politically connected businessmen came on the scene with other priorities for land use.

Looking long term, Lee said that with pandemic restrictions lifted he is again welcoming school groups for tours and volunteers who want to help with the work.

“We have about 3,000 to 5,000 kids that come to the pond every year,” he said. “Over the years we’ve developed some really robust curriculum materials to teach science, mathematics, language arts in the context of the pond. Over the last 25 years, we’ve trained a lot of teachers and as a result, they bring their kids down there, so we want to continue the education programs and also provide an opportunity for (the students) to be interested in (the) aquaculture development community again, and then maybe become the next generation of stewards and scientists and teachers and practitioners.”

He said that the fishpond’s future was secured eight years ago when the area was purchased by a church group that then sold the pond to his foundation. Lee was able to stop worrying about some wealthy investor coming in, kicking the organization off the property and filling in the pond to build a luxury beachfront estate.

“Being a landowner comes with costs, but we put a conservation easement over it about two years ago, as further protection,” Lee said. “When we pass away, it’ll be preserved in perpetuity.”

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7th Kanikapila o Mahina

>> Where: Waikalua Loko I‘a fishpond, 45-231 Kulauli St.

>> When: 6 p.m. Saturday; doors open at 5 p.m.

>> Cost: $45 presale or $50 at the door; free for under 18 with student photo ID.

>> Info: thepaf.org/moonlight

>> Note: Seating is on the lawn; bring mats, low chairs and umbrellas.