COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 495 



quill and thinking it a minnow, snap at it, and are thus caug-ht on the 

 hook. It is more probalile, liowever, that when the fish have come up 

 close to the light, the fishermen jerk the line up suddenly, catching the 

 hook in the body of the fish, which may then be drawn quickly and 

 easily into the boat. 



Mr. Henry Williams, of- Lahaina, purchased a gasoline launch in 

 1902 for use in line fishing, and also to cruise around among the 

 fishing boats and buy their catches whenever possible, running into 

 Lahaina to sell to the dealers at the markets. The boat was laid up 

 about the middle of 1903 and has not been used in the fisheries since. 



The irrigation dams and ditches on Maui contain many carp and 

 gold-fish, but no commercial use is made of them as yet, although 

 large numbers are taken for home use by the Japanese and Chinese 

 emplo3^ed on the plantations. 



The streams of the island are few in number and are practically 

 nothing but mountain rills. Thej' contain gold-fish, oopu, uwau, and 

 opae in large numbers, and while many of these are caught by the 

 natives foi" home use, but few are sold. 



Frogs are said to be quite numerous in the pools and taro patches of 

 Wailuku and Makawao, having been introduced a few years ago, but 

 no commercial use is made of them as yet. 



The fisheries of the island have not varied much during the last 

 three years. In 1900 there were 297 persons employed, while in 1903 

 there were 279, a decrease of 18. The principal change in the fisher- 

 men has been with the Japanese, who increased from 37 in 1900 to 80 

 in 1903, while during the same period the number of Hawaiians 

 engaged decreased 63. There were 25 Gilbert Islanders (South Sea 

 Islanders) engaged in the fisheries, but they left the islands in Octo- 

 be^, 1903. 



The total investment in the fisheries was $18,511, an increase of $3,340 

 over 1900. This increase is accounted for largely by the cleaning out 

 and putting to use of an old fish pond at Kahului. 



The total yield of the fisheries was 1,212,445 pounds, which sold for 

 $120,267. Lines are the most successful form of apparatus in use. 

 Bag nets are second, and these are followed in the order named by 

 seines, gill nets, baskets, spears, cast nets, and scoop and dip nets. 

 Quite a number of native women and children also engaged in fishing 

 with the hands alone. The principal species taken in the fisheries 

 are akule, opelu, nehu, ulua, oio, aku, amaama, kawakawa, and uku. 



