Who We Are

Hawaii Fish Company is owned and operated by husband and wife team, Ron and Lita Weidenbach, with assistance from their three adult children, employees, students, and volunteers from the community.

Ron is a fisheries biologist (University of Michigan , Ann Arbor), and a former researcher with the University of Miami, the University of Michigan, and the East West Center, Honolulu. He has worked as an aquaculture consultant for the World Bank and foreign governments, and for private companies. Ron originally came to Hawaii at the request of the State to help develop the giant freshwater prawn industry in the 1970s. He feels strongly about the opportunities for Hawaii’s agricultural future and has devoted his time, legislatively and otherwise, proposing and testifying on bills and working on issues that would help the local farmer and promote environmentally responsible aquaculture practices. Ron serves on numerous organizations supporting aquaculture and farm production and research, but he is first and foremost, a hard-working small farmer.

Lita has an MSW degree from University of Hawaii and worked as a foster care and child protection social worker for five years. Lita later started to dedicate most of her time to HFC after realizing that her heart is in aquaculture and horticulture. Lita enjoyed working on her family’s anthurium farm before she moved away from the Big Island, and likes to remind Ron that she also raised tilapia as a child, long before they both realized their dream of a fish farm. Lita has had more than 30 years of experience successfully raising fish and is excited about working with plants again through aquaponics.

HFC’s values of hard work, appreciation of the natural environment, and community service are encouraged in the company’s next generation. Joe, a graduate of Tufts University, is a local environmental/civil engineer who contributes his skills to the farm. Mariah, who has a Masters in Education from the University of Hawaii, assists with technical and computer work and will be addressing future farm educational tours. Mikia, a Princeton University graduate in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Duke University Master’s graduate in Environmental Management, oversees HFC’s efforts towards sustainability. All three children are involved in HFC’s research efforts, and, fortunately, aren’t averse to hard farm labor. They are committed to carrying on the farm’s legacy of growing premium quality products, innovation, sustainability, and education forward into the future.

Farm History

Hawaii Fish Company’s first crop of fish began in aquariums and children’s swimming pools located in Lita’s backyard when she was a graduate student and Ron a researcher at the East West Center. They were the first to culture and sell the Chinese catfish in Hawaii and, subsequently, became the first vendors to sell live fish at the City and County of Honolulu's Farmer’s Markets. Long before its more recent popularity, they used single-pass aquaponics to fertilize banana crops. HFC was also one of the first to successfully commercialize tilapia in Hawaii, and has worked with Chef Alan Wong to introduce the public to the culinary appeal of locally cultured tilapia.

HFC has collaborated with State aquaculture researchers and extension agents for many years, contributing fish and time towards refining the culture of these fishes and expanding farming opportunities for others. HFC initiated the first shipments of Pangasius catfish to Hawaii for aquaculture trials in the 1980s, and was involved in early Russian sturgeon research in the 1990s.

Hawaii Fish Company continues to contribute volunteer time to advance the aquaculture industry, and in recent years, to support and participate in the growing field of aquaponics so that Hawaii can become more sustainable as an Island State in local food production.