OxBowBusiness

Pearls

I read this in the Gulf News yesterday and thought it was interesting enough for you to share it too.

The Pearl Industry in the Gulf

•       First pearl in history found 7,000 years ago in Kuwait
•       335 pearling chows in Dubai
•       80,000 people made their living from pearls at the height of the pearling industry
•       The annual value of the pearling industry is $1 billion
•       Global pearl production in 2005 was 1,552 tonnes
•       Pearl prices range from $50 to $50,000 per pearl grain

How a Pearl is Formed

Natural pearls are formed more or less at random when an irritant such as a grain of sand or a parasite becomes lodged in the tissue of an oyster or mollusc.

In response to the irritation the oyster secretes nacre: a combination of calcium carbonate and organic substances, which gradually build up on layers around the irritant.

Over a period of several years this build up of nacre forms a pearl.

The size, shape and colour of the pearl are determined by a combination of factors including the size and shape of the original irritant, whether the mollusc is living in salt or fresh water and the region where the mollusc lives.

How to dive for Pearls

A diver holds his breath while he descends to the sea bed, up to 36 metres or so beneath the waves. He holds on to a rope attached to one of the mother ship’s oars: this rope has a stone attached that helps the diver to descend more efficiently. He is also attached to a second rope that will be used to pull him up at the end of the dive.

The rope and stone are pulled up once the diver reaches the sea bed. The diver then start to collect oysters with his hands and drops them into a basket he has taken down with him.

When he is ready, the diver tugs on the second rope and his is pulled skywards!

Once on the surface, the diver hands over his catch and rests for five minutes before taking another dive: a total of 10 dives per session.

Who gets What?

Various people get various shares in the diving industry, here are some of the details.

•       The Al Nukhdha and his deputy, in charge of everything on the ship, each get three shares of the yield of the ship
•       The diver, the ghais, gets three shares
•       Al Saib gets two shares: Al Saib is the man who pulls the diver out of the water
•       Al Azal were essentially freelance divers aboard the ship and they kept their earnings apart from handing over a fifth of their earnings to the benefit of the ship’s yield.
•       Al Radeef, young trainee divers, received one share of the yield: they also carried out light duties on board the ship
•       Al Tawash: the pearl trader often the richest of them all and they often had their own ships

The Biggest Pearl in the World?

The biggest pearl in the world is called the Pearl of Allah and was found in 1934 off the Island of Palawan

Source: Gulf News 29th April 2007

In my private version of this file there are two pictures: not reproduced here but here are their web addresses if you are interested.

picture of pearl from http://billhails.net/Pearl.png
picture of pearl fishing boat from http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/pearldiversPersianGulf.gif

posted by Duncan Williamson @ 2:21 PM