COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 481 



it is possible to secure the same thing- from his own people. The 

 same condition of affairs is said to prevail in other lines of business, 

 and a feeling of antagonism has developed on the part of those who 

 have been injured by the alleged unfair competition. The Japanese 

 fishermen deserve great credit for developing and extending the deep- 

 sea fisheries, which the native fishermen had allowed almost to die out; 

 but, on the other hand, they do an immense amount of damage by 

 destructive, and, in man}^ instances, illegal methods of fishing with 

 fine-meshed nets. 



One of the results of the rapidly increasing prejudice against the 

 Japanese fishermen was the effort in the summer of 1902 to prevent 

 them, as aliens, from landing their catch without paying a customs 

 duty of 1 cent per pound. The collector of customs at Honolulu 

 supported this contention, but on appeal the Treasury Department 

 refused to sustain the collector's action. 



The Russian-Japanese war had the effect of considerably lightening 

 Japanese competition, as large numbers of the fishermen of that 

 nationality returned to Japan to enter the arm3^ Over 90 of them 

 left Honolulu for this purpose on one steamer in March, 1904. 



THE FISHERIES OF HAWAII. 



This, the largest island of the group, is 90 miles in length from 

 north to south and 74 miles from east to west, with an area of 4,015 

 square miles, which is nearly double that of all the other islands com- 

 bined. Geologists claim that this island is the j'^oungest of the group, 

 as its internal fires are still unextinguished. It is made up principally 

 of three enormous volcanoes, two of which are still active, and both of 

 which are larger than any other active volcanoes in the world. Mauna 

 Kea, which is 13,825 feet above the sea, is the highest point on the 

 island, and Mauna Loa is 13,675 feet in height. Both are snow capped 

 throughout the year. The coast line of the island is regular, some- 

 times precipitous, and is badly handicapped for commerce by the lack 

 of good harbors. Hilo Ba}', on the eastern or windward side, is a 

 rather open harbor, partly protected from the ocean by a sunken coral 

 reef. There is no other harbor on the eastern side, but merely 

 landings, which can be made only in fairly clear weather. On the 

 westward side are the small open bays of Kailua and Kealakekua, 

 which are safe so long as the winds prevail from the westward, which 

 they do for nine months of the year. On the northwest is the open 

 harbor called Kawaihae Ba}", which is safe about half of the year. 

 The lack of good harbors has always been a serious drawback to the 

 fisheries of this island, as the fishermen are compelled to concentrate 

 at a few places and dare not go far out in their small boats lest they 

 be caught in storms or be blown off" the coast. 



F. C. 1904 31 



