With a view to protecting the reefs, the government of Queensland in 1891 enacted a law forbidding the sale or removal—except for cultivation purposes—of any pearl shell “of the kind scientifically known as Meleagrina margaritifera, and of either of the varieties commonly known as ‘golden-edged’ and ‘silver lip,’ of which the nacre or mother-of-pearl measures less than six inches from the butt or hinge to the opposite edge or lip, but this does not apply to the variety commonly called ‘dwarf-shell.’”[[256]] Owing to the difficulty in enforcing this regulation, the size restriction was reduced in 1897 to five inches from the hinge to the opposite lip, or six and one half inches exteriorly, shells of this size weighing approximately one pound. It is claimed that many oysters less than five inches in length are raised, opened for pearls, and then cast back into the water.[[257]] In 1899 the governor of South Australia interdicted the capture in the waters of that territory of any shell of “Meleagrina margaritifera measuring less than four inches from the butt or hinge to the opposite edge or lip.” Competent evidence exists that a good-sized pearl has been found in an oyster measuring one inch in diameter.
Pearling boats at Hiqueru, Tuamotu Archipelago
Australian pearl-diver (armored) coming up from the depths
The fishermen of Western Australia rendezvous at Broome, about one thousand miles by water north of Perth, the nearest railway station. With only a thousand or so inhabitants, under normal conditions, this is a scene of great activity, and bears a reputation of being no Sunday-school when the fishermen are in, with tons of shell and many a pickle bottle more or less full of pearls. Cossack and Onslow are also important stations.
In 1905, 340 luggers and 25 schooners were employed in the pearl fisheries of Western Australia, exclusive of Sharks Bay. Of this number about 85 per cent. hailed from Broome. The schooners ranged in size from 13 to 133 tons, and the luggers were mostly about 12 tons, with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 14 tons. The total number of fishermen approximated 2900, a medley of races, Japanese, Malays, Chinese, Arabs, native aboriginals and South Sea Islanders working together more or less harmoniously. The yield consisted of 1394 tons of mother-of-pearl, with a declared value of £146,225, and about £50,000 worth of pearls, a total of £196,255 for the year, which was an increase of £32,286 over 1904.[[258]]
The headquarters for the fishery of the Northern Territory of South Australia are at Port Darwin. In 1905 this fishery employed forty-nine sail vessels and two canoes manned by Europeans, and two proas and twelve canoes manned by Malays. The crews, numbering about 375, consisted mainly of Malays, Japanese and Filipinos. In 1905, 42 per cent. were Malays, 24 per cent. were Japanese, and 20 per cent. were Filipinos. Owing to the low price of pearl shell, the fishery was not prosecuted actively, and many of the Asiatics left for the pearling reefs at the Aru Islands. The total value of pearl shells reported among the exports for that year was £18,526; during the preceding year it was £28,391. No record is available for the value of the pearls.
The Queensland pearling fleet has its rendezvous at Port Kennedy, Thursday Island, which was originally maintained by the British, the Queensland, and the New South Wales governments as a harbor of refuge for mariners. Politically this port is important as the strategic key to the northeast of Australia, but its prosperity is almost wholly dependent on the pearl-oyster fishery. The population approximates 1600, consisting largely of Japanese, Malays, Cingalese, Pacific islanders, and Australian aborigines, with specimens from nearly every Asiatic and European nationality, and some from America and Africa. The Japanese predominate, their influx dating from 1891; and at present the industry is largely dependent on these Scotchmen of the Orient for its most skilful workmen. The heterogeneous nationalities, and the abundance of sand-flies, mosquitos, etc., make this island rather less desirable as a place of residence than it is interesting from a political and ethnological point of view.
The Queensland fishery in 1905 employed 348 vessels, and yielded 543 tons of shell, according to the government returns. In 1904, 353 vessels were engaged, and the catch was 798 tons of shell.