Pearl fishery

“ Redding gave an interesting description of the fishery:
In the warm months before harvest is ripe, whilst the rivers are low and clear, the poor people go into the water and take them up, some with their toes, some with wooden tongs, and some by putting a sharpened stick into the opening of the shell; and although by common estimate not above one shell in a hundred may have a pearl, and of these pearls not above one in a hundred be tolerably clear, yet a vast number of fair merchantable pearls, and too good for the apothecary, are offered to sale by those people every summer assize. ”

“ This is an exceptionally good year for pearls, and the price of the shells went up many rupees per thousand in the first week. The pearl fishery can be reached in about eight hours by steam from Colombo, and it would have been delightful to have visited it, had time permitted. We were shown an oyster with some beautiful pearls in it, all found in the one shell. When a boat with pearls reaches the shore, the shells are divided into equal heaps, one-fourth going to the boat's crew, and three-fourths to the Government Inspector. They keep whichever heap he chooses to kick ”

“ And it seems probable that only a small percentage of the beautiful gems produced in the waters have gladdened the sight of man.
With considerable hesitancy we have attempted to estimate the number of persons employed in the pearl fisheries of the world, and the aggregate local value of their catch. For two or three regions, this is not a matter of great difficulty. For instance, the divers employed in the Ceylon fishery are numbered each season, and the auction sales of their catch furnish a reasonably satisfactory basis for determining the value of the output. ”

“ It is on the north-west coast of the Island of Ceylon, in the Indian Ocean, that the Pearl Oyster most abounds, and there it is that the Pearl fishery is conducted in the most extensive, systematic, and successful manner; this fishing commences at the beginning of March, and upwards of two hundred boats are usually employed in it; in each of these boats are ten divers, who go down to the Oyster-beds, five at a time, and so relieve each other; there are besides thirteen other men who manage the boat, and attend to the divers. ”

“ From anecdotes about horses and bush-rangers the conversation turned upon the pearl-fishery on the northern coast of Queensland. "It is quite an extensive industry," said Mr. Watson, "and employs a considerable number of men. The exports of pearl-shell from Queensland for the year 1885 were 13,189 hundred-weight, valued at £87,110, or $400,000; and in some years the product has exceeded that amount. Other parts of Australia produce pearl-shell and pearls, and altogether the fishery is a very important one." ”

“ In the Ceylon pearl fishery of 1906, for instance, our estimate shows 18,500 fishermen; but there were 40,000 persons engaged at the pearl camp alone, and many others were given employment in boat-building, supplying provisions, selling the pearls, etc., and this does not include the wives and children depending on the industry for sustenance. Indeed, it seems not unreasonable to estimate that instead of only the 18,500 fishermen, 85,000 persons were in a large measure dependent for their livelihood on the Ceylon fishery in 1906. ”

“ In fact, the pearl fishery is carried on now far less in hope of a profitable collection of gems than for the profit in the shells, which have a nacreous interior of remarkable beauty—the mother-of-pearl—and the great advantage of offering this in almost flat surfaces, sometimes eight or nine inches broad, making it useful in the arts as well as in the more practical line of buttons, knife handles, etc. Sometimes the whole surface of a fine shell has been carved, cameowise, with cunning art and an exquisite effect. ”

“ The case of the pearl fishery is peculiar, the pearls being obtained from the sea bottom by divers, so that it has a physical connection with the stable element of the locality which is wanting to the pursuit of fish swimming in the water. ”

“ Here, at a certain spot, beds have existed for thousands of years, and are annually dredged for, or we should rather say, dived for, by organized companies. Pearl oysters are also found in large numbers in the Gulf of Manaar, between this island and the continent of India. The season chosen for the pearl fishery, which gives employment to large numbers of the natives, is naturally when the sea is most calm, that is, between the termination of the northeast and the commencement of the southwest monsoons. ”

“ There are also pearl fisheries in the western hemisphere. The coast of Columbia and the Bay of Panama have furnished considerable quantities, but they are not considered equal to the pearls of the East in shape or color. Detailed accounts of the pearl fishery of Ceylon have been given by the Count de Noé and others, who have had ample means of watching the operations of the pearl-divers during a residence in that island. ”

“ It is very difficult to prevent the theft of pearls by the fishermen as they are liable to treat them as perquisites if not carefully watched. Indeed, on the Torres Straits vessels it has come about that pearls do not constitute a recognized source of income to the proprietors. There the fishery is now conducted almost exclusively for the shells, as the wage-earners secrete probably as many valuable pearls as they turn over to the rightful owners. The hot sun causes many of the oysters to open, and deft fingers quickly pick out such pearls as may be visible. ”

“ The largest pearl fishery in America is that of Lower California, from which come the largest and finest black pearls in the market. The most famous pearls are from the east, especially from the Persian Gulf and from Ceylon. In Ceylon fishing lasts four to six weeks. Each boat has a crew of 13 men and 10 divers, five of whom rest while the other five are diving. The work has to be done very rapidly, as the best divers cannot stay longer than 80 seconds in the water. ”

“ Nor has much greater success followed upon efforts to prevent the exhaustion of the reefs and productive grounds through overfishing, except in those instances in which the government exercises a proprietory interest and determines the season, the area to be fished, and the quantity of mollusks to be removed. The most prominent instance of this is in Ceylon, where the fishery has been restricted to such seasons and periods as appeared to insure the maximum yield of pearls. ”

“ Frequently this is found covered with young oysters, which almost invariably disappear before the next inspection, owing, probably, to their being covered by the shifting bottom caused by the southwest monsoon. The natives call this the “Mother paar,” under the impression that these oysters migrate to the other paars.
The Ceylon government has given very careful attention to all matters affecting the prosperity of the pearl resources. It has maintained a “Pearl Fishery Establishment,” consisting of a superintendent, an inspector and numerous divers, attendants, and sailors. ”

“ The different beds are inspected from time to time, and no fishing is permitted until the condition of the pearl-oysters on the particular reef thrown open seems to warrant the most valuable returns. In the examination of a bed apparently in suitable condition, several thousand oysters—usually eight or ten thousand—are taken up and the pearls found therein are examined and valued. If they average Rs.25 or Rs.30 per thousand oysters, profitable results may be expected, provided there is a sufficient quantity of oysters on the bed. This method of determining the fishery is very ancient. ”

“ During the century following Tavernier’s time, the fisheries were vigorously prosecuted, owing to the impoverished condition of the reefs in India and America, and to the large demand for pearls, not only by the Oriental courts, but by the wealth and fashion of Europe. Except for the last four years, when the Ceylon fishery was very productive, throughout the eighteenth century the Persian Gulf was almost the only important source of supply for pearls. ”

“ In case small pearls are observed which give promise of growing larger in time, they are not removed, but the year is marked upon the shell with the opening implement and the mussel returned to the water. It often happens that good pearls are later removed from shells marked in this manner.
Complete records exist of the yield of this fishery during each year since 1719, when the Vogtland passed to the electorate of Saxony. ”

“ In the Mississippi and its tributaries, where the fishery is very extensive, after the pearls have been secured, the shells are sold to button manufacturers and to exporters at prices ranging from $4 to $40 per ton, according to species, quality, and market conditions. This provides a fairly remunerative income to the fishermen even if no pearls 273whatever are found. But in the small tributaries and where the mollusks are less numerous, the shells are of little value owing to the expense of bringing them together and conveying them to market. ”

“ In this fishery many persons are drowned, either by remaining too long at the bottom, or because they become entwined or entangled in the cord, or such carnivorous fish as the shark devour them. This is the manner of fishing pearls in all the Indies, and many fishermen die from the dangers aforesaid, and from the excessive and constant labor, the little food, and the maltreatment they have. The emperor was led to enact a law among those whom Blasco Nunez Vela brought, which imposed the penalty of death upon him who should forcibly compel any free Indian to fish for pearls. ”

“ In 1905, according to the official figures, the Queensland fishery gave employment to 348 vessels and 2850 men, and yielded shell and pearls worth £135,000, which was the smallest output since 1890. The Western Australia fishery, exclusive of Sharks Bay, employed 365 vessels in 1905, and about the same number of men as in Queensland, and yielded £196,000 worth of shell and pearls. The fishery of South Australia employed about 60 vessels and 375 men, and yielded about £25,000 worth of shell and pearls. ”

“ The shell constitutes the principal object of the fishery; the pearls themselves are of incidental importance, but are always looked for and anxiously expected.
The season extends from May to November, with a rest during the remaining five months of the year. The fishery is open to natives and to foreigners alike. While the leading fishermen employ diving-suits, which were introduced here about 1890, nude diving is yet practised to a considerable extent, the men descending in eight or ten, and some even in twelve fathoms of water. ”

“ The industry centered at Black Rock, more than a thousand persons fishing within twenty miles of that place. It is estimated that within three years following the development of this fishery, this State yielded pearls to the value of more than $500,000.
When the Arkansas fishery was at its height, it was reported that ten thousand persons were employed therein. The fishermen were from nearly every class and condition in the State. Women were not absent; even children participated in the industry, and some proved more fortunate than the older hunters. ”

“ There are a number of fishermen who have been maimed and mutilated by shark bites. A surprisingly large number of men who have become totally blind engage in diving, and they usually do fairly well where the oysters are abundant on the reefs. And one or two unfortunate divers are reported who continue the work even though handicapped by the loss both of a leg and of eyesight, this interfering less with their diving than with their movements on land.
The fishery in this region owes absolutely nothing to modern civilization in the method of securing the pearls from the depth of the sea ”

“ The profits of the fishery are divided among a great number of persons. A large percentage goes to the shrewd bunnias from India, who finance the fishery operations, and who, by all sorts of tricks connected with advances of supplies, valuation of the catch, etc., manage to make a very good thing out of the business. It is nothing unusual for the valuation of a lot of pearls to double and even treble after leaving the hands of the fishermen. ”

“ Owing to the character of the fishery and the lack of government supervision, it is extremely difficult to determine accurately the extent of this industry in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. All over this coast extends the influence of the Hindu traders, who finance the fisheries and purchase most of the catch. The pearls are sent mostly to Bombay, and are not reported in the official returns of the Red Sea ports. The fishermen are suspicious of outside inquiries, and are far from anxious to impart reliable information. ”

“ Within the main channel of the Mississippi, the relative scarcity of pearls in the Unios, and the greater preparation required for collecting the mollusks in the deep waters, retarded the fishery until the establishment of button manufacture afforded a market for the shells, this originating in 1891. The industry developed rapidly, and for several years has consumed about 35,000 tons of shells annually, obtained principally in the Mississippi between Quincy and La Crosse, and to a much less extent in other streams in this valley. ”

“ In recent years the development of manufacturing industries in Saxony and the resultant pollution of the water has greatly reduced the abundance of the mollusks and consequently the output has been much restricted. The average annual yield in the twenty years ending in 1879 was 163 pearls; in the twenty years ending in 1899 it was 66 pearls, and in the six years ending in 1905 the annual average was 58 pearls. Owing to high water, there was no fishing in 1888; and with a view to permitting the resources to recuperate, the fishery was suspended from 1896 to 1899, inclusive. ”