730 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



oach other, when it is secured in this position. A rude sort of bag is thus formed 

 at the gatlaered end. In operating the net the two ends of the sticks at the bag end 

 are held in one hand and the flaring end is pushed around stones, etc., in shallow 

 water, thus scooping up the tish, papai, and opae. By lifting the flaring end out of 

 the water the catch falls back into tlie bag, from whence it is easily removed with the 

 hand. This net is ijuite generally used around the leeward side of Oahu. 



CAST NETS. 



The cast net (upena poepoe) is a comparatively recent introduction in the islands, 

 having been brought in by the Japanese about ten years ago, so it is reported, 

 although this is somewhat doubtful. The nets, which are circular, average about 25 

 feet in circumference and have l^-inch mesh. They have leads all around the sides 

 and are made generally of No. 10 cotton twine. They are worked from the shore. 

 Unlike the fishermen in the United States, the Japanese hold no part of the net in 

 the mouth, but manipulate it entirely with the hands. About two-thirds of the 

 outer edge is gathered up and the net is thrown with a sort of twirling motion, 

 which causes it to open wide before it touches the \\ater. The leads draw the outer 

 edges down very rapidly, and as the}' come together at the bottom the fish are 

 inclosed in a sort of bag. The net is then hauled in by means of a rope attached 

 to its center, the weight of the leads causing them to hang close together, thus 

 preventing the fish from falling out as the net is hauled in. The fish are shaken out 

 of the net bj" merely lifting the lead line on one side. 



BASKETS. 



With the exception of those for catching opae (shrimp), the Hawaiians use few 

 baskets (hinai), this form of apparatus belonging principally tt) the South Sea 

 Islanders. 



In opae fishing two varieties of baskets are used. One, the hinai opae, some- 

 times called apua opae, looks somewhat like the coal-scuttle bonnets in vogue some 

 yeas ago. It is woven from the air roots of the ieie {Freijcindia arhorea). This 

 basket is employed for catching shrimp in the mountain streams, and the work is 

 generally done by women, who hold the basket in one hand, a short stick in the 

 other, and, moving in a crouching position through the water, drive the opae from 

 under the rocks, etc., to some place where the grass, ferns, or branches of trees 

 droop over on the water. The opae take refuge in or under this vegetation, and the 

 fisherwoman, placing her basket under the leaves, lifts the latter out of the water, 

 when the opae drop ofi' into the basket, from whence they are removed to a small- 

 mouth gourd, which the woman has been dragging behind her in the water by a 

 string tied to her waist. 



Another method of fishing in the streams is to take a fairly deep basket with a 

 large mouth, and, putting this in a favorable spot in the water, build a mud wall on 

 both sides of it extending out a short distance. The fisherwoman then goes a little 

 way upstream, and by beating the water drives the opae into the basket, which she 

 removes and empties, then going on to another place and repeating the operation. 



