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Where to Find Local Fish

Craving fresh, sustainable fish on Oʻahu? Our guide highlights top local markets offering ‘ono and pono seafood, supporting local fishermen and eco-friendly fisheries. From Chinatown’s bustling stalls to Kualoa Ranch’s oysters, discover where to find the freshest catch, including tips on ensuring it’s truly Hawaiian. Dive in and eat responsibly!

Buy Local: Fresh Fish on Oʻahu

Want to land some fresh local catch in your pot or on your grill tonight? And maybe it feels important to you to support the retailers that are looking out for the sustainability of local fisheries and the livelihoods of people on the water. We have looked around at sources on Oʻahu to support you in eating seafood that’s ‘ono and pono. Note that some retailers sell fish is Pacific fresh but from beyond Hawaiian waters. Ask for particulars before purchasing. Here is our current compilation; purveyors are listed in alphabetical order.

Retail Markets

88 Fresh Fish Market

88 Fresh Fish is located in Chinatown’s Oʻahu Market. It has fresh fish daily, and will clean and fillet your fish for you at no charge. Open Monday – Sunday, 8 AM - 2 PM.
145 N King St., #23, Honolulu. 808-524-6988

Blue Seafood Company

Blue Seafood Company, in Maunakea Marketplace, sells all kinds of fresh and local fish. Plus, they have food court stall, where they will prepare your fish for you to eat; they’ll “Chef it up,” as they put it. The food court stall also offers a menu of seafood plates, poke, etc. The store is open 7 days/week, 7:30 AM – 3:30 PM. The food court stall, 10 AM – 3:30 PM.
1120 Maunakea St, Ste 168, Honolulu. 808-562-8111

Pile of red fish
A fresh haul of menpachi (aka, soldierfish, or ʻūʻū) at Blue Seafood Company. These schooling, native fish are nocturnal reef-dwellers. They are flaky fish, good for pan frying, baking, and steaming.

Kualoa Ranch

Kualoa Ranch includes a brick-and-mortar farmers market in the Ranch House building, offering “a curated selection of fresh produce, pantry staples, and locally made goods,” including Kualoa-grown oysters and shrimp. The market is open seven days a week—but oysters and shrimp are not always available. Check before you go.
49-560 Kamehameha Hwy, Kaneohe. 808-748-3238 https://www.kualoa.com/farmers-market

Local Iʻa

Local Iʻa offers fish that are “island-local, the highest quality, environmentally and ecologically responsible, and fair-trade.” Its name stems from the “highly-productive loko iʻa, or fish ponds,” built by Native Hawaiians. The company’s mission is to feed the community while also keeping “ocean culture alive by supporting lawaiʻa, or fishermen, who continue to bring in line or spear-caught fish from our nearshore waters.” Local Iʻa takes care to sell only truly local fish, as in fish “caught within Hawaiian waters by local fishermen.” You can buy Local Iʻa fish through its Kaimuki retail outlet (Friday, 10 AM – 6 PM, Saturday, 10 AM – 3 PM); the Mililani Farmers Market (Sunday, 8 – 11 AM); and through its “community supported fishery” (CSF) program. In the CSF program, you buy fish “shares” ahead of time and get first choice from the week’s catch. Shares are available for pickup weekly at six locations across the island.
3458 Waiʻalae Ave., Kaimuki. 808.492.8331 https://www.localiahawaii.com/

Parrotfish
Seven types of parrotfish (collectively known in Hawaiian as uhu) are found along the reefs of Hawaiʻi. They are prized for the work they do in keeping coral reefs healthy, but their delicate, buttery flavor also makes them a highly targeted species that requires some protection now from overfishing.

Nico’s Pier 38

Nico’s is a restaurant and fish market located on the pier adjacent to the fish auction. Given this proximity, it claims to serve “the freshest fish on the island.” Its online menu lists eight different local fish available as fresh fillets, with guidance to call (808-983-1263) to “see what we have for the day.” Open Monday – Saturday, 6:30 AM – 9 PM; Sunday 10 AM – 9 PM.
1129 N. Nimitz Hwy., Honolulu https://nicospier38.com/fish-market/

Pier 38 Fish Market

Pier 38 Fish Market calls itself “Hawaii’s first and only Marine Stewardship Council certified fish market…. committed to the long-term health and sustainability of our local fisheries.” It sells a variety of fish and shellfish; not all local. The website says, “…many products are sourced directly from our local Hawaii-based longline fishing vessels.” Up to the pandemic, the business was wholesale only. It is literally located at Pier 38, next door to Nami Kaze restaurant. Open Tuesday – Saturday, 9 AM – 5 PM.
1135 N. Nimitz Highway, Honolulu https://pier38fishmarket.com/ 808-784-4988

Tamashiro Market

The first Tamashiro Market opened in Hilo in 1941. It focused on selling fresh pork from the family farm. Following the tsunami in 1946, the family and market relocated to Honolulu. In 1954, the store started specializing in seafood, as it does today. Tamashiro Market offers fresh fish from local fishermen and the local auction, as well as flying in fresh seafood from around the world. (On the web, Tamashiro’s lists 42 different kinds of fresh local whole fish.) It takes pride in its poke, made only with “fresh local fish,” emphasizing that “our poke is not just ‘freshly made,’ it is FRESH!” Open every day except Christmas and New Year’s Day.
802 North King Street, Honolulu 808-841-8047 https://tamashiromarket.website

Online Options

Farm Link

Along with other local foods, meat, and produce, you can order and buy local fish through Farm Link. The fish are primarily sourced from Local I’a, Blue Ocean Mariculture, and Kualoa Grown.
https://farmlinkhawaii.com/

Fresh Seas Market

Fresh Seas Market is the home-delivery branch of Norpac, a company that’s been supplying fish to restaurants and retailers in Hawaii since 1986. Norpac claims to provide “premium, provable [traceable] seafood that is responsibly harvested.” Fresh Seas Market delivers to all 50 states; next day to addresses west of Rockies, and two days for those east. For local addresses, they offer flat shipping rate of $9.99. No charge “for orders over $95 in cart value.”
https://freshseas.com/