The Pearl-Shellers of Torres Strait: Resource, Development and Decline 1860s?1960s

Ganter, Regina

ISBN 10: 0522845479 / ISBN 13: 9780522845471

Published by Melbourne University Press, 1990

Seller Inventory # I-9780522845471

Synopsis:

In an ethnically stratified work force, Japanese, South Sea Islander, Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal divers brought up from the sea floor the shell that produced mother-of-pearl, and sometimes pearls. Many men died at this dangerous work.

This was an industry that could have given the indigenous peoples of Torres Strait an occupation that preserved their identity and independence. Yet in spite of a co-operative lugger scheme that operated fairly successfully in the early twentieth century, a real independence was not achieved. And a resource that could have been conserved by small-scale indigenous harvesting was depleted time and again by the colonial practices of resource-raiding and mass extraction.

Regina Ganter charts the progress of pearl-shelling from its heyday through its several crises resulting from overfishing to its present cautious management. The book is greatly enhanced by the oral testimony of divers and boat-owners.

About the Author: Dr Regina Ganter has done extensive fieldwork as a consultant for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. A lecturer at Griffith University, she presently holds a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Australian National University to explore the dynamics of interaction between Asians, Aborigines and Europeans at the Australian frontier.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Pearl-Shellers of Torres Strait: ...
Publisher: Melbourne University Press
Publication Date: 1990
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: New