The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-03-27
To PROTECT
F|NNY TRIBES
Citizens Object to
Explosives
Bill.
WOULD HARM
HAWAllANS
Use of Giant Powder Would Soon
Drive Our Shore Fish
Away.

The majority of citizens are against
any legislation that will tend to dimin-
ish the present supply of fish in the Ha-
waiian. waters, and heartily score the
bill introduced by Senator J. Brown of
Hilo, which, if passed, will permit fish
ermen to use explosives within the reefs
and other fishing grounds where the
finny tribes are more numerous, than in
places which are more handy to fisher
men in general.
A number of representative business
men have been interviewed upon the
subject They are all of one mind-that
the bill as it stands Is an atrocious one
and will do the country more harm than
good.
Henry Waterhouse says the annulment
of any portion of the law prohibiting the
use of explosives in the waters where
| fish abound Is reprehensible.
1T is the most short-sighted piece of
duced in a Legislature" he said. "Who
does 1t hurt the most? The Hawaiians
naturally. They mostly live from hand
to mouth day by day, and pol and fish
are their staple articles of food. Remove
the fish and you see what happens. Poi
! Is becoming scarcer as each year rolls
! by, but to take away the fish-well,
cannot understand how native can in
{ troduce or support bill of this sort and
! be IN his right senses.
Furthermore the use of giant powder
( by the natives causes much damage to
L. -tNnt.a
you see minus hand suffered by try
ing to catch fish with dynamite Public
sentiment, / know, is against permitting
the use of explosives in our foolish
waters I certainly deplore legislation
of this kind.
Around the Island of Niihau the fish
are plentiful and the natives do not
use other than the usual methods Tor
4 catching them. The waters there are
| alive with them. If explosives are IN
troduced however it will not take a
great while to drive all the fish away"
! Senator Cecil Brown of Oahu Is heart
lily against the proposition. He believes
that the old law should stand as 1t is,
prohibiting explosives from being used
in any place where fish thrive.
"There is no use. however, of making
a fight on the Senate floor against the
bin. You might just as well butt your
jority are so short-sighted as to want
the bill to go through, why I suppose
il will go, pell-mell. This Is bad meas
ure, and would certainly make our sup
ply Of fishes very short indeed. I am
against any proposition by which the
food fishes of the Island waters will be
diminished 1t viii hurt the Hawaiians
more than any one else, and certainly
at the present time the price of fish is
high enough"
! Secretary of the Territory Henry r.
Cooper one of the first men here to
organize an association which had for
it's purpose the preservation Of the fish
in Hawaiian waters, and to prevent
their wholesale destruction, characterizes
the attempt TO permit the use of explo-
sives within the hitherto sacred limits
as indefensible.
at seems that fate was strong ele-
ment in such bill being introduced in
to the Legislature just at the time when
we, who had associated ourselves to-
gether to increase the fish supply here.
were about to get aid from the Federal
Government. This bill permits the ma
tive and Japanese fishermen to get fish
by means of giant powder or any expio-
sive that will destroy them by the
wholesale. Just the removal of the
words reefs or waters gives every one
a privilege which is not allowed in any
other place where the community de-
ponds largely for It's food supplies upon
the fish. We have been working hard
to arrive at some methods bv which the
fish now in the waters can be protected,
that is the smaller ones. so that in time
there will he ample supplies Of food
fishes for all
"Only Yesterday morning l saw near
my residence on the shores of Pearl
Harbor, Japanese fishermen netting in
thousands of mullets not longer than
ones forefinger. They were dumped IN
to barrels and probably fed to hogs or
they will be used as fertilizer. This to
nv mind Is nothing short of criminal
These men, with no thought OF the fu-
ture. destroy every possible means by
which our waters may TEEN with fish
Now to add giant powder to this indis-
criminate of the nets and seines
would remove a source of food supply
which would naturally hit the native
Hawaiian hardest
''The Federal authorities are soon 20
send representatives Of the United States
Fish Commission. They will investigate
the species which are IN these waters
and also the methods by which they
are caught, and make a full report to
Washington. In that report will also
no doubt, be interesting matter relating
to their wholesale destruction
T. w. Hebron, the yachtsman, and
one of the members of the association
for the preservation of fish, said he was
against the measure introduced by
Brown of Hilo. He characterized II is
reckless and harmful.
IF the natives could only be male 70
see that this measure Is In reality kill
Ing the goose that is laying golden eggs
for them, then there would be some
!. hope. 1t IS like taking food right ont
of their mouths. I think that Cecil
Brown will make a hard fight on the
question but II the introducer OF the
bill has his head hard set, I don't sup
pose talk against It will do any good.
We have got to preserve the fish here.
The Hawaiians will feel the loss of the
fish most, and they ought to be consid-
cred, especially by the Hawaiian mem
bers of the Legislature.
"There IS another phase to this mat
ter which is also interesting and should
be big argument against the passage
of the bill, and that is this: The use OF
Loci Nv 10 tr~r