The Washington times., 1901-07-28
PEARL FISHING IN VENEZUELA
Remarkable Revival of the Industry
on Margarita island


| When the Spaniards landed on the
| shores of Margarita Island, off the north
coast of Venezuela. four centuries ago,
they found the necks of the natives
| adorned with strings of pearls. They lost
no time in securing possession of these
valuable ornaments at little expense to
themselves, for the native pearl market
was well stocked and prices were low
Margarita was one of the islands dis
covered by Columbus in his journey of
Ass. The Spaniards were very eager, of
course, to discover the place of origin of
the pearls and only a year later a man
named Guerra found the pearl banks off
the south coast; it was not long before
other banks were discovered around the
shores Of the island
This new source OF. pearls was magnet
that drew many adventurerso to the is
land The neighberhood of Margarita be-
came one of the busiest regions of the
Spanish main. Margarita is quite a large
island, though smaller than Trinidad It's
extremities. the larger part of it, are con-
nected by narrow isthmus, so that 1t
has something the appearance of a dumb
bell. For centuries the fishing grounds of
Nargarita have contributed to the world =
supply of pearls, but in recent years the
industry has been almost abandoned as
the banks seemed to be about exhausted,
while the pearls fell in value, so that fish
ing was not profitable.
The past few months have witnessed a
wonderful revival of the industry Pearls
have advanced in price owing to the fact
that the supply from larger grounds has
fallen off. The large fisheries off the
north coast of Australia, for example
have been yielding comparatively few
pearls. and the industry is carried on
there not so much for the gems as for
pearl shell. or mother-of-pearl. as it is
known in the trade. Times have been
very dull in Margarita for many years,
but there is now extraordinary activity
In the island. Buyers from different
parts of the world have gone to Margarita
to live on that sandy and not particularly
inviting island. Their business, of course,
is to purchase from the native fishermen
the gems they wrest from the shallow
depths around the island.
There are no such lively scenes on the
Grand Banks among the cod fleet as are
witnessed today in the waters over the
beds off the northeast and northwest
shores OF Margarita. About 2e01 natives
and 400 sailing vessels are engaged in the
industry. The long-neglected beds have
had time for recuperation, and the gems
fetch a good price in the Paris and other
markets; this is a harvest time for
the natives, who are improving each shin
ing hour. The Venezuelan Government
always alert to discover a new source OF
revenue, is deriving considerable advan-
tage from the industry by taxing all the
boats engaged In it. These boats are
from three to fifteen tons in size, and the
whole fleet is on the grounds during most
of the daylight hours.
Back and forth the vessels sail over the
oyster beds dragging big iron scoops
which are 500, iiIed with mud and oy-
sters. They are then brought to the sur
face and the shells are opened and care
fully examined. This Is crude and
wasteful method of fishing for pearls.
The great objection to 1t is that it tears
the small as well as the large oysters
from the beds, though the small shells
should be left undisturbe6 to grow and
increase in value A French company has
just begun fishing with divers and diving
apparatus. which is the preferable meth
od- The Venezuelan Government taxes
only the boats of the native fishermen.
but the foreigners must pay a royalty of
10 per cent on the profits of their enter
prise.
The results thus far this season Justify
the opinion that the value of the output
this year will be about 5000. 600 Ii would
be much increased If the shell of the oy-
stcr were more valuable, but Ii is found
to be too thin for the manufacture of
buttons and other articles. such as are
made from the shell of the Queensland
and Bahrein Islands fisheries. The thin
ness of the shell is said to be due to the
short life of the Margaritan oyster. which
is not usually more than eight years The
pearls, however are OF fine quality and
beautiful lustre. Most of them are white !
to yellow In color and sometimes an al
most priceless black gem is brought to
the surface. In May last large white |
pearl was sold in Margarita for 81 700. |
Such prizes, however. are not found often.
though every time q large oyster Is OPEN |
ed the fisherman. hopes he will find a
pearl of unusual value. Most of the pearls |
go to Paris, which is regarded as the |
great centre for the distribution of pearls. |
and as the market which. on the whole. |
pliers the best price for, them.-New York |
Sun.