COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 455 
PRIVATE FISHERY RIGHTS. 
Probably the most peculiar feature of the Hawaiian fisheries is the 
well-developed principle of the private ownership of the fishes found 
in the open sea and bays to within a certain prescribed distance from 
shore. In order to clearly understand this condition of affairs it will be 
necessary to revert to the early history of land tenures in the islands. 
Although we know practically nothing of the history of the people 
for some time after they first settled on the islands, it is probable, 
reasoning from analogy, that they lived in a patriarchal manner, fol- 
lowed later on by a tribal or communal system. In the meantime 
certain men by force of character and natural talents had become 
recognized as chiefs, and these men gradually usurped the rights of 
the common people and in time came to own everything. Whena 
king or chief died his successor claimed the right, and exercised it in 
most cases, of redistributing the land amongst his own friends and 
adherents. This continued during the reigns of many petty chiefs 
and kings until at last all the islands fell under the sway of Kame- 
hameha I, through conquest. The King at once divided the lands 
among his principal warrior chiefs, retaining, however, a considerable 
portion for himself. Each chief divided his lands among his inferior 
chiefs, who subdivided them again and again down to the lowest class 
of tenants. When Kamehameha II ascended the throne he wanted to 
redistribute the lands as of old, but matters had rested so long without 
change during the long reign of Kamehameha I, and the landed inter- 
ests had become so strong, that he found it impossible to disturb the 
existing order of things, except in a few instances. Trading in lands 
now became common, but it was not until 1839 that the ownership of 
land became vested in others than the King. In the bill of rights 
which Kamehameha III issued cn June 7 of that year occurs the fol- 
lowing rather vague paragraph relating to land tenures: 
Protection is hereby secured to the persons of all the people, together with their 
lands, their building lots, and all their property, while they conform to the laws of 
the kingdom, and nothing whatever shall be taken from any individual except by 
express provision of the laws. Whatever chief shall act perseveringly in violation 
of this declaration shall not longer remain a chief of the Hawaiian Islands, and the 
same shall be true of the governors, officers, and all land agents. Butif anyone who 
is deposed should change his course and regulate his conduct by law, it shall then be 
in the power of the chiefs to reinstate him in the place he occupied previous to his 
being deposed. 
It was not, however, until 1848 that land tenure was put upon a 
solid legal basis by the division of the lands between the King, the 
chiefs, and the tenants, and vesting the titles in each. 
Each island was divided into ‘‘moku,” or districts. The subdivi- 
sions of a ‘‘moku” were ‘‘ahupuaa,” which is really a unit of land in 
the islands. The ‘“‘ahupuaas” are generally long, narrow strips, run- 
ning from the mountain to the sea, and include mountain, the plateau, 
