The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-16
TUGS FOR
FISHERIES
The Price of Fish
Can be Greatly
Lowered.
CRUDE IDEAS IN
VOGUE IN HAWAII
Waiter Adams Says Seas Should
be Seined With Great
Nets,

iioW III vogue among the japanese, chi
nese and Hawaiian fishermen in these
waters have attracted the attention of
an Eastern man who says that with
modern equipment in fishing, the price
Iof fish can be brought down from thirty
to forty cents lower than the present
rates. This gentleman is Walter Adams
tof Boston, who has thorough knowl-
edge of the methods employed on the
Atlantic and Sound country coasts. Mr.
Adams has closely watched the various
methods of fish catching from the
Maine and Newfoundland fishing banks
to where cod, mackerel, blue fish, and
other large species are caught by the
millions, to the great salmon catches
of Oregon and Washington.
81 was quite surprised when visiting
the Fish Market here" said Mr. Adams
to an Advertiser representative yester-
day, ito find that in such a large fish
leating community the prices should be
so high. I saw buyers take away a few
fishes and pay over the counters several
dollars for what would be considered
but fair-sized mess. 1t occurred to
me that fish are becoming a luxury in
Honolulu and if the present rates are
increased they will be found only on
the tables of the rich. / understand
that the Hawaiians are not able to pro-
cure as much poi as formerly and that
the prices for fish make these tooth
isome edibles difficult for them to buy.
They are the real sufferers.
This all comes from a lack of knowl-
edge of modern methods in making big
catches If the fishermen here would
use such nets and seines as are used
on the Atlantic coasts fish which now
cost from fifty to sixty cents apiece
should be available at from ten to fif-
/ teen cents each.
THE Japanese fishermen who seem
! to be a majority in the waters here use
the crudest methods possible and it is
not surprising that with their small
catches the prices should go up, and
vary from day to day. With such a
large population as you have in Ho-
nolulu and with the plantations near
by employing thousands of people there
| is fine opportunity for a company to
establish an outfit consisting of large
seines, purse seines and surface nets
which would not only bring the prices
down but give the concern handsome
profits.
1.-THE nets here are all knit by hand
which makes them more expensive
anese and Chinese seines are made of
native Irvine and have no great durabil-
ity. My idea would be to introduce
eastern methods. There they have nets
made of a Irvine called hunt with fine
mesh; overlapping this is a mesh of
| finer Irvine and at either end are what
are termed wings which are some
times between 200 and $50 fathoms in
II ~ n TO
thirty yards deep. The net is strung
along top line topped with corks to
| float it. On the bottom is a purse string
sliding through pulleys. Such a seine
is taken out in a schooner, or smack
and is used mainly for catching fishes
which inhabit the waters near the sur
face. When a school of fish is sighted
the seine-boat is manned and is steered
around the school until it is surrounded
The purse strings are then drawn into
i the boat and gradually forms scoop.
1 have seen as many as SIS barrels TAX
en- in this manner. The nature of the
bottom Of the sea around the islands is
against using certain of the nets en-
Iployed by eastern fishermen, but there
are kinds which could be used to great
advantage. One of these is the fin net
which is anchored at the bottom and
stands UP like a tennis net. Fish bump
ling into these usually endeavor to go
right through the meshes which are of
various sizes. They get stuck and the
| Irvine is SO fine that it often cuts into
them. They cannot back out and thou
sands of fish are caught thus
"a company equipped properly with
large and small seines should have a
! tug or two, small ones, and a schooner
These Japanese boats do very well how
ever, and could be utilized to great ad-
vantage. On the Atlantic coasts fisher
men do not hesitate TO go 100 miles
from shore in quest of their fishes.
Fishermen here do not need to go so far
out as I believe there are plenty of
them close in to the shores. In the
Sound country fishermen have come to
realize that if they wish to compete sue
cessfully in the business they must en-
iploy the most modern appliances ]
have seen some of them purchase a
small outfit enlarging II year by year
until they have big boats and the big
gest seines. 1t seems to me there are
plenty of wealthy men in Hawaii to I'M
dertake to supply the market with fish
at lower cost than atearesent A COM
pany formed for this purpose would be
an advantage to the community at
large. If the Fish Association which I
understand has been lornbed here. would
take an interest in the me-, tier, it would
probably assist materially, in prevent
ing the japanese lisherrnt from max
ing their hauls so close unshore and
drive them out of bushes 50
| Mr. Adams is guest at the Ha-
waiian Hotel.
/ -~H"
THE BEST REMEDY FpR PuErr-