Local I‘a Fish Fry Plates Will Help Clear Invasive Ta‘ape Off Our Reefs

Come for $12 plates of fried fish, rice and salad on Labor Day Monday or get some ready-to-cook ta‘ape snappers to go.

August 27, 2025

Mari Taketa,

Photo: Courtesy of Local I‘a

Snorkeling off the Big Island last month, Ashley Watts noticed a change. Ta‘ape were gone from reef ecosystems where she’d seen the invasive snappers before. “It’s getting better,” the owner of Hawai‘i-sourced fish company Local I‘a says. “Increased awareness of the deliciousness and availability and affordability and the likeness to other snappers has encouraged people to start eating them, and therefore fishers to start fishing for them.”

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Building on that momentum, Local I‘a is holding its second fish fry this coming Labor Day Monday, Sept. 1, in Kaimukī. You can get plates of one or two fried ta‘ape with rice and a salad of MA‘O Organic Farms greens for $12 a plate, or you can buy the cleaned, vacuum-sealed reef fish ready to cook at home. Also available will be Little Vessels vegan yeasted doughnuts, freshly pounded poi and ‘awa.

Photo: Courtesy of Local I‘a

Local I‘a’s first fish fry on Memorial Day sold out in an hour and a half and cleared about 150 of the sunny yellow snappers off Hawai‘i’s reefs, by Watts’ estimate. So this time, she’s going for double that, with twice as many plates and fish for sale.

Watts is planning more fish fry events, including one at Patagonia in Kaka‘ako in October. More fishers whose near-shore catches Local I‘a buys are targeting ta‘ape as demand for the species grows. Fish counters are more apt to stock the fish (Tamashiro Market now even sells toau, another invasive snapper whose pinkish-red color makes it more popular among local Japanese.) When she can find a steady supply, Watts says, Istanbul restaurant in Kaka‘ako is waiting to add ta‘ape to its menu.

Photo: Courtesy of Local I‘a

“The cool thing about ta‘ape is that it’s year-round, and a lot of our other snapper species are not. They’re all over the reefs,” Watts says. “Where I come from in the South, we have a lot of fish fries. It’s a way for people to come together, eat food and build community, so that’s what we’re going for. And people will find out why we want to eat ta‘ape.”

There’s no pre-ordering, so just show up Monday and pick up a plate or ready-to-cook fish. There’ll be a few picnic tables if you want to eat your invasives on the spot.