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Australia is the world’s major producer of white South Sea pearls, for during the 1998 season the tropical waters off northern Australia yielded ~ 60 per cent of total world production of these much desired and very valuable bead-nucleated cultured pearls.
White South Sea pearls are large (>10 mm diameter) rounded, lustrous, white, silvery, cream, or golden pearls that are cultivated by man in the gold- and silver-lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada maxima) that is indigenous to the off-shore waters of northern Australia. Other white South Sea pearls produced by the Australian pearling industry include ‘accidental’ whole baroque keshi pearls, and cultured bead nucleated half pearls that are commonly termed mabés.
The white South Sea pearl is a comparative newcomer to Australia’s pearling industry, for the history of this primary industry stretches back for well over a century to the time when Australia was one of the major supplier of natural pearls to European and American markets. |
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 Western Australia
In Western Australia, European interest in pearl shell developed in tandem with the cattle industry. Indeed, commercial pearling commenced in Western Australia in the early 1860s, soon after the first pastoralists arrived on the shores of Shark Bay, some 540 km north of Perth, and at Nickol Bay — a further 1,000 km to the north.
These avaricious newcomers soon subjugated native pearl shell harvesters, and in the process destroyed their long established trading patterns.
From 1862 to mid 1868 local aborigines were coerced, without pay, into ‘dry shelling’ for Shark Bay Pinctada albina albina. These small bivalves yielded commercial amounts of ~ 3 mm, often irregularly shaped, yellowish pearls. To the north, the much larger Nickol Bay P. maxima also was harvested both for its mother-of-pearl (MOP) as well as for its much rarer lustrous silvery white pearls.
While the value of pearl shell and pearls was higher at Nickol Bay, the Shark Bay shells, with their more abundant pearls, were more densely distributed and much easier to access. These somewhat forgettable activities represented the start of Australia' s pearling industry.
Due to rapid depletion of readily accessible shells, 'dry shellers' then were forced to wade up to their armpits into deeper waters in their search for shell. Within three years, harvesting of pearl shell moved into deeper waters - up to two kilometres off-shore - with six to eight aboriginal men and women being used to ‘naked dive’ for shell from larger boats. At that time, a fair days work for a 'naked diver' was considered to be the recovery of 10-25 pairs of shell at the average rate of a pair of shells per eight dives.
Depletion of the early pearling beds, due to over-exploitation that included the indiscriminate removal of immature and undersized 'chicken shell', soon forced the avaricious pearlers to move their shell gathering activities progressively northwards towards Roebuck Bay, on which modern Broome is now located. Consequently, by 1875 half the pearling fleet was located in the vicinity of Exmouth; with the remainder working above Cossack. The same pattern of exploitation followed: depletion of 'dry shell' beds, followed by depletion of beds that were accessible to 'naked diving' by indentured Malay divers.
One distinct technological advance, that was made at that time, was the successful introduction of hard hat diving to the Broome area by the famous English gem merchant, W.E. Streeter. This occurred in the mid 1880s, and followed Streeter's retirement from the London retail jewellery trade. Now living in Broome, Streeter begun to invest his time, effort, and money into pearling. In a short time this entrepreneur purchased several schooners to service fleets of smaller pearling luggers that cruised the waters off north western Australia in search for pearl shell and pearls. Indeed, by the time self government was granted to Western Australia, in 1890, Streeter had already acquired a pastoral property on the outskirts of Broome, has established a store and house in Broome, and owned one-eighth of the pearling fleet. Streeter, a pioneer of West Australian pearling, died in 1923
By the early 1890s the pearling industry had become depressed; due to the combination of decreasing world demand for pearl shell, continuing depletion of resources due to overfishing, and governmental closure of pearling beds. In spite of these set backs, the industry continued on a small scale until the First World War, after which prices of pearl shell collapsed until the industry was rescued economically by the American market that purchased >50 per cent of all shell harvested during the 1920s and 1930s. This recovery lasted until the Great Depression, when the market for pearl shell finally collapsed, as did the West Australian pearl fishery - courtesy of the invention and marketing of the plastic button.
The first Australian cultured pearls were grown by a Mr G.S. Streeter, in Roebuck Bay, during the 1890s. This attempt was not an economic success. However, it was the attempt by A.C. Gregory to cultivate pearls near Broome in the early 1920s, that led the Western Australian Government to amend the Pearling Act to prohibit production, selling, and even the possession of cultured pearls. This regrettable action allowed the Japanese to dominate the pearl culturing industry for the next half-century. Indeed, it was not until this Act was repealed in 1949 that - six years later in 1956 - the first successful Japanese-American-Australian cultured pearl farm commenced operations at Kuri Bay to the north of Broome. Progress was rapid, for by 1973 Kuri Bay was producing ~ 60 per cent of the world' s large white South Sea pearls.
Presently, sixteen commercial pearl cultivators are operating in West Australian waters. Of these cultivators the Paspaley and M.G. Kailis companies each own three individual companies.
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