Wayland is the owner and manager of Puna AquaFarms, and a third-generation farmer/rancher. He grew up on this land and worked it with his grandparents and parents. In the beginning he learned to care for and herd the cattle and hogs that his grandparents had acquired. Then he was taught how to grow and harvest the variety of tropical plants, fruits, and foliage which were sent to a handful of customers and locations including Wall Street in Los Angeles. Today he continues to learn and grow in his newest endeavor of aquaponics from educational classes, articles, and local experts. His goal is to continue to grow the aquacultural side of the farm and create a sustainable, clean, fresh, and local US source for Tilapia.

Karen Peters is Wayland’s older sister.  She has been very involved with the farm for more than 45 years helping our parents with the shipping of tropicals to the buyers.  During this time, she was also a full time flight attendant at Aloha Airlines and was able to supply our parents with flight passes between the islands.  She is still very involved with the farm as a consultant.

JD has been working for his dad, Wayland, for a good portion of his life. Starting with Wayland Lum Construction being a labor hand, when he was younger, and now; a project manager. He ventured out to California and graduated from the San Diego State University with a bachelors degree in business management. He is still based in Southern California and works virtually to hopefully grow the business in the continental US. In addition to his construction years JD has helped with the farm throughout various parts of his life. In continuing to assist with the generational family business he is now the operations manager of the farm. In doing so he hopes to continue to help the farm to grow and prosper for the future.

Megan graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a BS in bioengineering systems. Currently, she is a nuclear engineer officer in the United States Navy where she was able to receive her Masters in Engineering Management from Duke University. She acts as a consultant for the farm and all future projects.

Jay brings a wealth of Business knowledge to support the Executive team having run his own Business for the past 30 years in the Hawaii Hospitality Industry. A native of the Islands and lifelong associate of Mr. Lum, he currently bases  himself out of the Pacific Northwest and  will be supporting the company growth on the US Mainland.

Orion attended the University of Hawaii for Aquaculture to pursue a passion for working with fish. He spent two and a half years as a student aquaculture technician for the Freshwater Aquaculture and Aquaponics facility where they raised a variety of freshwater species. Concurrently, he was a student research assistant for the Saltwater Aquaculture Facility, assisting in the care of  fish being used for studies.

Terrance was employed at Goodfellow Brothers for 30 years as a heavy equipment operator.  He retired and has been with Puna Aquafarms for three years grubbing our land and building our future ponds.  He is considered one of the best operators on the island and we are fortunate to have him with us.