COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 465 



keeper, 1 assistant market keeper, 1 assistant lish inspector, and 1 

 laborer, were employed. 



A serious competitor of the government market appeared on Novem- 

 ber 5, 1903, when a private market which had been constructed on 

 Kekaulike street, between King and Queen streets, a former site of 

 the government market, was opened for business. This market was 

 constructed at an expense, including the value of the land, of $60,000. 

 Like the government market, the greater part of it is devoted to the 

 sale of fish, and the building is very conveniently arranged for this 

 purpose. Many of the dealers in the government market left that 

 place and took stalls in the new market as soon as it was opened, 

 owing to the fact that it is more conveniently situated for catering to 

 the Chinese and Japanese, who are the principal consumers of fish. 

 During the short time the market was open in 190.3 there were 96 

 persons — 80 Chinese, 7 Japanese, and 9 natives — employed in and 

 around it in marketing the fishery products. The government fish 

 inspector has charge qf the inspection of fish in this market also, 

 and is assisted by a native man, the latter being paid by the owner of 

 the market. 



On February 6, 1904, a small market, containing six stalls, was 

 opened at the corner of Beretania and King streets. An assistant fish 

 inspector, paid by the owner of the market, is in charge, and works 

 under the supervision of the government inspector. 



A most comprehensive scheme for the marketing of fishery products 

 was being worked out at the time of the present inquir3^ A company 

 was organized under the name of "The Inter-Island Live Fish and Cold 

 Storage Company," and proposed to establish markets at convenient 

 places within the city limits from wliich fish could be distributed 

 expeditiously and without danger of loss from death and other causes 

 incident to a tropical climate. Special means of water supply and 

 refrigeration were provided, and every efl'ort directed toward the 

 preservation of the fish in fresh and wholesome condition as it reached 

 the consumer. 



Cold storage is undoubtedly necessary in such a climate as prevails 

 in the islands. As the law stands at present all fish brought to the 

 market up to noon must be sold before evening or else thrown away. 

 Fish arriving at the market after noon and remaining unsold when the 

 market closes can be placed in cold storage for the night and again 

 offered for sale, but must then bear the printed legend "Iced fish." 



The tables given below show, by months, the number of each spe- 

 cies of fish inspected in the markets of Honolulu during the years 

 1902, 1903, and 1904, and, as in the case of the Hilo market reports, 

 are taken from the official report of the inspector. Here, also, the 

 figures for mollusks and crustaceans are incomplete. 



