HAWAIIAN ^'FISHERY RIGHTS'' 



BY JOHN X. COBB, AGENT UNITED STATES BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



Undoubtedly the most peculiar feature of the fisheries of Ha- 

 waii at the tiiue of annexatiou was tlie well-estal)lished ])rinciple 

 of private ownership in the fislies found in the bays and open sea 

 in the vicinity of the shore, also in certain of the streams. 



In order to understand these peculiar "rights" it is necessary 

 to refer to the early days of the Hawaiian nation and trace brief- 

 ly the evolution of its land customs and laws, witli wliich these 

 "rights" are closely interwoven. 



Up to the year 1839 all the land of the kingdom was owned 

 by the king, who, by his mere word could give or take away a 

 piece of pro])erty. He was also supposed to own the land and 

 water extending out to the reef, or, where there was no reef, for 

 one geographical mile from the shore. Necessarily as he owned 

 the waters and the land under the Avaters within these limits he 

 also owned what the waters contained, and hence had the right to 

 grant such to whomsoever he pleased. The bill of rights jiromul- 

 gated by the king in 1839 established the right of private owner- 

 ship in land, and as a result all the powers which lie had former- 

 ly exercised over these lands fell into the hands of tlie jiersons 

 then owning them, the king retaining only his riglits over wliat 

 were termed Crown lands. 



Nearly all of the available agricultural land is in the vicinity 

 of the sea or its bays and tributaries. For conv^'niencr each isl- 

 and was divi<led into districts called "nioku," and thest' were 

 subdivided into "ahu|)uaas."" which is the unit of lands in the 

 islands. The "ahupuaas" are generally long, narrow tri])s, run- 

 ning from the mountain to the sea. and include the mountain, 

 the plateau, and the shore. These great portions of land usually 

 had attached to tliem ocean "fishing rights," in some instances 

 not only adjacent to tlieir own shores, but spreading out on each 

 side up and down the rocky coast for miles, till they joined an- 

 other monopoly of the deep-sea fisheries. In a few instances 

 these "fishery rights" did not abut at all upon the land to whicli 



KiO 



