BULLETIN OP THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 251 



loug;, sandy opeuiiigs in coral places. Two persons, or sometimes one, 

 work this net, passing backward and forward to seaward of the net, 

 taking out fish as fast as canglit in tbe mesbes. This way of fishing is 

 only practiced at night. Sometimes a place where fish are seen or are 

 likely to be is surrounded and the water inside the circle beaten, when 

 the irightened fishes dart in every direction with great violence and 

 are meshed. 



A long net of 3 to 4 inch mesh is used for catching large fish, such as 

 the "oio." It is of SO, 100, 140, or even 350 fatlioms in length by 2 to 

 3 fathoms in depth. It is used in the deeper waters just inside, or in 

 shallow waters just outside, the reef or breakers. For this fishing the 

 fishermen go in canoes; one man is always standing u]>right on the cross- 

 bars of the canoe, keeping a sharj) lookout for a school of ''oio." When 

 he sees one, the canoes follow it at a distance from place to place, or 

 wait patiently, if the fish remain- in an unfavorable place, till they move 

 into the accustomed fishing-grounds. Two or three canoes are almost 

 always engaged together in this kind of fishing. When the fish are in 

 a suitable place one canoe approaches very cautiously and stations itself 

 where the net is to be dropped, while another one, carrying a net of the 

 same kind, makes a wide cnrcuit till immediately opposite, with the fish 

 between, when the ends of the nets are dropped simultaneously from 

 the two caiioes, and both i^addle in a semicircle while paying out the 

 net and striving to meet the dropped ends of the opposite net as soon 

 as possible, so as completely to inclose the school before the fish become 

 alarmed. The first canoe having met the end of the 0]>posite net, if on 

 sandy bottom, keeps on one side of the net already down, drawing its 

 own net after it, thus gradually reducing the circle, as well as making 

 two or three rings of netting around the fish, so that if they make a 

 rush to any given i)oint and by their weight bear down the lloaters, 

 those escaping from the first circle will still be inclosed by the outer 

 ones, and eventually be caught by becoming entangled and meshed. 

 When the nets have been drawn to suit the head fisherman they all 

 jump overboard with their canoe poles and by beating the water frighten 

 the fish, which dash here and there with great violence, entangling them- 

 selves in the nets, and are easily captured. 



In catching other kinds of fish these or smaller nets are used either 

 in daylight or at night, though the best results are almost always ob- 

 tained at night. The nets are dropped in a semicircle and some of the 

 fishermen, making a wide sweei) to the opposite side, spread out fan- 

 shape and move rapidly towards the net, beating the water as thej^ go 

 with their arms, and thus driving the fish from quite a distance into 

 the comparatively small area partly inclosed by the nets, while the two 

 men holding the stick supporting the end of the net and standing per- 

 pendicularly in the water run towards each other on the apinoach of the 

 beaters. Should the water be dirty and the net rather long, the ends 

 are then gathered together until the circle is all reduced and the fish 



