Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-05-07
FISHING FOR PEARLS.
How a Great Industry Is Carried on In
CeyIon.

ceeding the supply. The greater part
and the most highly priced, come from
Ceylon. The pearl fishery is one of the
oldest industries in the world. Scien-
tific methods have not until recently
entered into it's development For over
three thousand years the pearl oyster
harvest has remained in the hands OF
the natives, whose skill in diving has
been handed down from one generation
to another; and despite the great ad-
vances that have been made in the art
their primitive methods are still eff
cient, economical and productive.
For years the fishery constituted q
government monopoly yielding hand
some revenue, but three years ago II
leased the work to a private enter
prise for the sum of $125,00O per an
mum. The government was probably
prompted to adopt this course from the
speculative character Of the undertake
ing. Whereas formerly a bumper har-
vest was secured one year, realizing
possibly over a million dollars, sew
eral years of barrenness followed, so
that the average income became COM
paratively small.
The fishery is jealously guarded, the
season is carefully regulated by ordi-
nances and the oyster beds are kept
under constant surveillance to prevent
illegal fishing or deterioration. On the
average the season lasts about month
and provides occupation for over 45,-
900 people. The scene Of operations Is
the estuary Of the River Modragam in
the Gulf Of Manaar on the northwest
coast. Here the banks or beds known
as "paars" are peculiarly adapted to
the raising of the bivalve, which thrives
abundantly. The bed is a stretch of
shallow water varying from eighteen
to sixty feet in depth and stretching
fifty miles along the coast and about
twenty miles out to sea. The sea bed
here Is clean, hard sand, offering but
slight clinging security to the oysters
In inclement weather. Indeed oyster
propagation is extremely dependable
upon the weather. For instance sur
vey showed that over one hundred
thousand million young were clinging
to one bank, but the facilities Of their
adhering were so slight that a second
inspection few weeks later found that
the greater part had been swept away
either by currents or the monsoon and
irretrievably lost. Under such circum-
stances the industry is one purely of
chance.
The natural deficiencies in the sea
bed must be supplemented by artificial
remedies so that the oyster spat may
secure a firm hold against the severest
weather. To this end the marine bio
logical scientist, Prof. Herdman, D. &c..
F. r. S., is engaged in scientific in
vestigations to improve the conditions.
In order to encourage the growth Of the
pearl yielding cestode 1t is only possi-
BILE to use certain materials for depos-
iting or "cultching" upon the bank, to
which they may adhere. The most
suitable media have. been found to be
clean broken tiles and bricks, but as
these are very difficult to obtain exper-
iments were made with native refuse
by Prof Herdman, but 1t was found to
possess insufficient gravity to secure
desired deposit upon the sandy sea
bottom and was easily and quickly
swept away. The best results are now
obtained from calcareous cultch con-
sisting of old, broken, bleached corals
and dead shells from a beach. Prof
Herdman also advocates the utilization
Of the dead oyster shells themselves
for this purpose. The ."cultching" OF
the oyster beds is being carried out
upon these lines. The material has
the advantage Of being readily obtain
able in almost inexhaustible quantities
at very little cost. The area to be COW
cred by a first installment Of cultching
is twenty five square miles. upon which
thousands Of tons of cultch have to be
dumped. The monsoons prevent this
work from the middle of May to the
middle Of october.
Four or five months before the sea-
son commences the banks are inspect
ed to determine whether there shall be
a fishery and to estimate the extent
Of the yield. This has revealed the
ters upon the Periya Paar Karai, which
is q continuation of the famous Periya
Paar itself, from which the greatest
yields Of cestodes have been gathered
during the past 5000 years. This small
sized, profitable and reliable bank lies
at depth of from so to 81 feet and
about the limit of the capabilities Of the
native diver, and probably for this
reason it has not received the atten-
ton in the past that its yield would
suggest.
The company also first exploited the
banks known as the Dutch Modragam
Karativu and Allanturai areas. They
had previously proved so poor that they
became neglected. They were inspect
ed in 1904, but were found of no value
A second survey was undertaken with
the result that fishery was effected
that year which otherwise would have
proved barren. 1t netted the Ceylon
government 100000. In 1907 these
banks yielded a gross revenue Of $780,
900.
The fishery is generally carried out
in March or April. A short time before
this a final survey is made and samples
of oysters are tested for their yield
If satisfactory the news is announced
that fishery will be held. 1t spreads
like wildfire not only through Ceylon
itself but the whole Of India, Malay and
up to the Persian Gulf, and the natives
in these districts hurry to the island
A shanty town springs up at Marich-
chukkadi at the mouth Of the Mod
ragam river. 1t IS inaccessible, prac-
tically vacant, and neglected, but in
the season it Is the hub of excitement
Streets of primitive dwellings fashioned
Of bamboo poles with roof Of palm
leaves spring up to accommodate some