Pearling in Western Australia
Pearling in Western Australia includes the harvesting and farming of both
The practice of collecting pearl shells existed well before
History
The first stage of the European pearling industry: Wading for shell
Pearls were first gathered in Western Australia by Aboriginal Australians.[5] The European pearling industry began in the 1850s at Shark Bay where pearls (called the 'Oriental, or Golden' Pearl) were found in the Pinctada albina oyster in relatively large numbers. The industry soon folded however.[citation needed][clarification needed]
At Nickol Bay, decorative pearl shells (Riji) made by local Aboriginal people from Pinctada maxima, were noted by Europeans. The industry began in the mid-1860s with pastoral workers who collected shell in shallow waters, either from shore or in small boats.[citation needed]
During the late 1860s many more boats left Fremantle and the pearling industry at Torres Strait, Queensland for the new fishery at Nickol Bay with its port of Tien Tsin Harbour (later known as Cossack).[6][7]
While Broadhurst and a few other proprietors experimented, during the 1860s, with the use of breathing apparatus by professional divers, it proved at the time to be expensive, unreliable and dangerous.[citation needed]
While local Aboriginal people were excellent swimmers, known to have covered great distances over water, sometimes to escape imprisonment, unlike their counterparts in some other parts of Australia they had no cause to dive in conditions where the tidal range provided all they needed. Many were also succumbing to diseases to which they had not previously been exposed, as well as accidents. This led to recruitment from the convicts on the "Native Prison" on Rottnest Island. Broadhurst was criticised for harsh treatment of at least one indigenous employee, while some pearlers abducted and/or forcibly retained their divers.[citation needed]
Experiments with alternative labour sources and with diving apparatus (The 'Hard Hat' )
In the meantime, 'naked diving' continued with most producing exceptional results, especially at the Flying Foam Passage where they used the tides to allow themselves to travel over great distances. As the demands on the local Aboriginal populations increased, many died due to disease and maltreatment.[citation needed][clarification needed][8]
The Shark Bay pearling industry
Frank Cadell was also operating at Shark Bay in this period[clarification needed] and in this era 'dredging' rapidly became the most efficient means of obtaining the shell, which was noted more for the pearls rather than the shell as was the situation further north. The publicity surrounding the successes resulted in a virtual gold rush centred on Wilyah Miah (Place of the Pearl).[9]
The Broome era
'Diving apparatus' (standard dress or 'hard hat') was used.[10][clarification needed] Soon the Japanese divers came to dominate the industry. By 1910, nearly 400 pearling luggers and more than 3500 people were fishing for shell in waters around Broome, making it the world's largest pearling centre.[11] The majority of the workers were Japanese and Malaysian, but also included were Chinese, Filipino, Amborese, Koepanger (Timorese) and Makassan, as well as Aboriginal Australians and people from Europe.[citation needed]
In 1910, two
By the 1930s, pearl luggers were mainly motorised and the use of mechanical air pumps allowed boats to use two divers. The industry suffered from a high death toll, with hazards from
At the time of the
This section needs expansion with: White divers of Broome, Decompression practice, Decompression sickness, Recompression chamber. You can help by adding to it. (September 2022) |
Post WW2: indentured labour
After World War II, workers were brought from Malaya and Indonesia on bonds to work in the pearl shelling industry and returned to their country of origin when no longer needed. Sumatran-born Samsudin bin Katib was a pearl diver who was recruited and deployed in the Z Special Unit Commandos in the Australian Army and worked behind enemy lines. Returning to work in Broome, Samsudin protested at a 10% cut in wages and poor conditions for the migrant labourers, organising a general strike. He also applied to be allowed permanent residence, but this was against the provisions of the White Australia policy. Despite the backing of some unions and individuals, he was deported in 1948.[14]
Legacy of the 19th century
In April 2019, the skeletons of 14 Yawuru and Karajarri people which had been sold in 1894 by a wealthy Broome pastoralist and pearler to a museum in Dresden, Germany, were brought home. The remains, which had been stored in the Grassi Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig, showed signs of head wounds and malnutrition, a reflection of the poor conditions endured by Aboriginal people forced to work on the pearl luggers.[15]
Pearling luggers
The boats used for pearling from the 1870s, known as pearling luggers, were unique to Australia. There were at least two types: the Broome or North-West lugger, and the Thursday Island or Torres Strait lugger. The styles are each adapted to their respective areas and modus operandi. Around Broome, the boats had to cope with the extreme tidal range and the shallow sandy shore, on which they had to spend extended periods lying on their sides. The Torres Strait luggers spent longer periods at sea, based around schooners as mother ships.[16]
The design of these two types changed after the engines were developed for the boats, and over time they began to look more alike. The last of the pearling luggers were built in the 1950s, and were over 50 feet (15 m) long. They were some of the last wooden sailing vessels in commercial use in Australia.[16]
Michael Gregg, curator of
At the peak of the pearling industry, in the early 1900s, there were 350 to 400 pearling luggers operating out of Broome each year. By 2005, there were just two still afloat in Broome. In 2007, one of them, Ida Lloyd, sank off Cable Beach, and in 2015, Intombi, built in 1903, was burnt. However as of 2019, there were still about 40 luggers of various types still afloat around Australia, and there is a collection of luggers at the Australian National Maritime Museum.[17]
Cultured pearls
Due to the prospect of an adverse reaction in the natural pearling industry, the
By 1981, there were five pearl farms operational: Kuri Bay, Port Smith, Cygnet Bay, and two in Broome's Roebuck Bay.[citation needed]
The industry today includes 19 of Australia's 20 cultured pearl farms and generates annual exports of A$200 million and employs approximately 1000 people.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "Australia's pearling industry". Australian Government Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Archived from the original on 7 October 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
- ^ Collins, Ben (9 September 2018). "Reconciling the dark history of slavery and murder in Australian pearling, points to a brighter future". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Early Years". ebroome.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
- ^ "Pearling". Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Government of Western Australia. 6 September 2017. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ McCarthy, M., 2009. Naked Diving for Mother-of-pearl. In Early Days, Journal of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, Vol 13, Part 2 : 243.
- ^ "Port Walcott". The Inquirer & Commercial News. 25 December 1867. p. 3. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- ^ McCarthy, M. (1995). "Before Broome." The Great Circle:, Journal of the Australian Association for Maritime History. 16(2):76-89.
- ^ Anderson, Ross (June 2012). First port in the Northwest A maritime archaeological survey of Cossack (PDF) (Report). Western Australian Museum.
- ^ McCarthy, M., 2007. Pearling at Shark Bay: the early beginnings. In Green, J., (ed.) Report on the 2006 Western Australian Museum, Department of Maritime Archaeology, Cape Inscription National Heritage Listing Archaeological Survey. Report—Department of Maritime Archaeology Western Australian Museum, No. 223 Special Publication No. 10, Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology: 157-161
- ^ Edmonds, Carl (1996). "Pearl diving: the Australia story". South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal. 26 (1 Supplement). Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "The History of Pearling in Western Australia". Western Australian Department of Fisheries. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
- ^ "The phantom vessel". The West Australian. Vol. XXVI, no. 7, 584. Western Australia. 19 July 1910. p. 3. Retrieved 1 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Rare Pearls - Precious Memories". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
- ^ "Stories: Cameleers and hawkers". National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ Parke, Erin (21 May 2019). "Indigenous bones returned to Australia century after black-market trade reveal cruel treatment". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Pearling Luggers". Australian National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ a b Collins, Ben (5 January 2019). "Lost luggers and the rough seas facing wooden boatbuilding". ABC News. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
Further reading
- "Broome Pearls". 175th Anniversary of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
- Edwards, Hugh. Port of Pearls.
- Bain, Mary Albertus. Full Fathom Five.
- Chapple, Thomas Dampier. Broome The Exciting Years (1912-1930).
- "Pearl Farms". Kimberley Cruising. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
- Bailey, John (1 August 2002). The White Divers of Broome. Pan Australia. ISBN 9780330363389.