426 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
VESSEL FISHING. 
When one considers the fine fishing-grounds in deep water and on 
the reefs and shoals within reasonable distance of the islands, it is sur- 
prising that there are no vessels engaged in the fisheries at the present 
time. Several attempts have been made to establish vessel fisheries, 
but for various reasons they have met with failure. 
The last attempt was in 1898, when a number of persons in Hono- 
lulu formed a company and had the gasoline schooner Malolo built, at 
a cost of $6,600, to engage in this business. She was fitted out with 
six seines and one bag net, at a cost of $1,000, and carried a crew of 
four men, the captain, John M. Sass, of Honolulu, an engineer, and 
two sailors. The fishermen were Japanese, who were hired at Hono- 
lulu. They had their own boats and lines, and the schooner towed 
them to the fishing-grounds. A station was established at Palaau 
district, on Molokai. An old tish pond was purchased there, the pur- 
pose being to clean it out and use it for catching fish which came in 
through the entrance. The intention of the company was to hire 
fishermen on the islands to work the nets, while the Japanese would 
engage in line fishing, and the schooner would make regular trips to 
Honolulu with the catch. The fishing was to be done on the reefs 
about the west and south sides of the island of Molokai. The Japa- 
nese were very unreliable, as when the vessel was away they would 
go to Lahaina and other places and sell their catch. 
Another fishing crew, composed largely of white men, mostly beach- 
combers, was gathered together and taken out to the fishing-grounds 
to work the nets principally. As they knew nothing of the business, 
they were a failure from the very beginning. 
The third fishing crew, composed of native Hawaiians and South Sea 
Islanders, was secured at Lahaina. ‘Twelve of these men were put on 
the island of Lanai, and were supplied with boats, nets, lines, and 
provisions by the vessel. After a few hauls the vessel left for Hono- 
lulu with the catch, the understanding with the fisherman being that 
they were to continue fishing until the vessel returned, so that she 
would have a cargo to take back to Honolulu. When the vessel 
returned half of the fishermen had deserted and the few remaining 
were carried to Lahaina. The whole business was abandoned in 
August, 1899, after the failure of an effort to get another gang on 
Maui. ; 
Captain Sass says there was no lack of fish at any time, and if the 
fishermen could have been properly trained to the work the experi- 
ment would have been a brilliant success. Most of the fishing was 
done with trolling and hand lines, as the nets would not work well on 
the coral reefs, frequently tearing, while the numerous sharks about 
the reefs would do much damage to them. 
