Marquesan Sardine — HlDA and MORRIS 
433 
TABLE 1 — Continued 
LOCALITY 
DATE OF 
CAPTURE 
METHOD OF 
CAPTURE 
NUMBER 
CAUGHT 
NUMBER 
PRESERVED 
STANDARD LENGTH 
(cm) 
Range 
Mean 
Kauai I. 
Port Allen 
9/10/58 
night net 
6 
6.17-6.69 
6.41 
10/2/58 
night net 
6 
3.90-7.90 
6.60 
5/24/60 
day seine 
est. 
100 
3 
3.80-7.34 
5.05 
7/5/60 
day seine 
est. 
500 
10 
4.00-6.87 
5.45 
7/9/60 
day seine 
est. 
100 
58 
5.85-8.75 
7.24 
7/23/60 
day seine 
est. 
20 
7 
4.67-5.99 
5.54 
Hanalei Bay 
9/25/58 
(?) . 

6 
6.90-7.90 
7.50 
Waimea Bay 
l/P/59 
pole-and-line 
2 
9.80-11.48 
10.64 
10/14/59 
pole-and-line 
1 
14.62- 
14.62 
7/23/60 
day seine 
est. 
40 
2 
11.34-13.30 
12.32 
Nawiliwili Harbor 
6/2/60 
night net 
8 
10.57-12.47 
11.75 
Hanamaulu Bay 
9/6/60 
gill net 
1 
12.21- 
12.21 
Hawaii I. 
Kawaihae Bay 
3/14/59 
day seine 
est. 
3 bkts. 2 
12 
7.56-10.05 
8.73 
Kahoolawe I. 
SW Point 
6/17/59 
day seine 
est. 
Vl bkt. 
11 
9.76-12.08 
10.83 
Molokai I. 
Laau Point 
9/3/60 
day seine 
5 
5.61-6.70 
5.80 
would find them. The main nehu baiting areas 
are in the relatively protected waters of bays, 
harbors, and canals where the water is brackish 
and turbid owing to the influx of streams and 
ground water. The Kihei area on the island of 
Maui and Waimea on Kauai are exceptions, the 
baiting grounds being exposed to the open ocean 
and moderate surf action. Baiting, in general, is 
done close to shore in shallow water, although 
night-lighting for bait may be done in deeper 
waters of channels and harbors. Since it appears 
that the sardine has established itself in the 
nehu grounds, it is important, from the stand- 
point of the tuna fishery, to keep a close watch 
on the population trend of the species in Hawaii 
and the effect that it may have on the bait supply 
in the future. 
ABUNDANCE 
Our only source of information on the abun- 
dance of sardines in Hawaiian waters has been 
the reports of observations by commercial and 
sport fishermen. The numbers of specimens 
turned in by fishermen are not a good index of 
abundance, because often they are only a small 
and arbitrarily selected fraction of the catch. 
There have also been times when sardines were 
seen but not caught. 
The first observation of a large school of 
sardines, 20 to 30 buckets, 3 was made in Wai- 
mea, Kauai, late in the summer of 1958 by skip- 
3 A "bucket,” the unit commonly used by skipjack 
fishermen for measuring bait, contains an average of 
7 lb of fish. 
