It Is clear from this iDrief and incomplete historical sketch that from the 

 very TDeginning of exploitation up to present the pearl fishery was subject to wide fluctua^ 

 tions. Tears of high yield were folloi/ed ty protracted periods of relative inactivity, pre- 

 suma"bly 13608X136 of the e^diaustion of T)earl grounds and scarcity of divers. 



It ia interesting that the necessity of protecting the pearl resources and 

 preseinring the life of divers was recocjiized even in the olden times. During the rule of 

 Charles 7, a Royal Decree v/as issued hy the Government of Spain which limited the pearl 

 fishing to the summer months. Several humanitarian measures issued at the same time limited 

 the v7ork of divers to ^ hours a day. at a depth not exceeding 8 fathoms. The decree forbade 

 the oiimers of slave divers to force them to work more than U hours a day at the depth from 

 5 to g fathoms. It v/as prohibited to demand then to perform other v/ork. The decree also 

 specified t}iat the divers should receive good food and a pint of wine a day, and be provided 

 v;ith clothing and hammocks for sleeping. Another decree forbade, under penalty of death, 

 to force a free person to dive for pearls. These well-meaning but illusory measures re- 

 mained on paper only since not the slightest attempt v/as made to enforce them. 



Exhaustion of pearl grounds below the point of profitable exploitation acted 

 as a conservation measure. The oyster banks were left undisturbed for indefinite periods, 

 and the exhausted population of oysters gradually recovered by natural propagation. The 

 sarae tirinciple of conservation is being used at present. As one can see from table 1, from 

 1932 to 19^ pearl fishery v/as conducted at intervals of 2 or 3 years to permit the recovery 

 of pearl groTxnds. By decreasing the season from 6 to U months (in 19^5) it was possible to 

 carry out pearl fishing operations for 3 consecutive years. Even with the present brief 

 open season, the reseeding of grounds may not be conpleted in 1 year. Because of the scar- 

 city of oysters, the pearl grounds v;ere closed during the year of 19^8. The beneficial 

 effects of the flexibility of a^inistrative control are obvious, for they protect the 

 natural resource from being completely wiped out by excessive fishing; the industry suffers, 

 however, from such irregolarity and uncertainty. 



EEESEIW COroiTIOKS OF PEAHL TISHERY 



1. Location of pearl oyster banks 



Pearl fishing in Venezuela has lost the glamour and adventure it had in 

 former days, but under intelligent management by the government, has become a better estab- 

 lished occuTsation which provides livelihood to a large number of people. 



The pearl oyster grounds around the Margarita, Cubagua, and Coch^ Islands 

 have not been ad.eouately surveyed, and therefore the totaJ. area occupied by pearl oyster 

 banks and the density of their population have not been determined. The location of pearl 

 oyster is, hov/ever, well kno\rti to the fishermen. Most of the pearl beds are found in a 

 canal bet-zeen the Peninsula de Araya and the southern shore of the Margarita Island, in 

 depths varying from 2 to 11 fathoms. lev groijnds are located along the northern and eastern 

 shores of l-largarita. Bach ground is known by the special name given in table 2. Central 

 points of the grounds determined by Captain Jos^ M. Moso^ueira (l9'+3) are plotted on a sketch 

 map reproduced in figure 1. Inq^iiiries made in the office of Pearl Pisheriee in Porlamar 

 and among the divers revealed that the areas occupied by pearl banks greatly vary in size, 

 some of them extending in length for more than 1 l/2 miles. 



Pearl oysters are not confined to a single type of bottom. With the excep- 

 tion of mud, in which they are rarely found, they seem to thrive eq^ually well on a great 

 variety of substrata, such as gravel, stones, broken shells, and other materials firm enough 

 to supoort the weight of the adult, and sufficiently hard and clean to permit the attachment 

 of the larvae. The best bank, known as IToche y Dfa, is located along the east coast of 

 Coch^ Island. Its bottom consists of small shells. 



