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large areas in Torres Straits which, in consequence of their near- 

 ness and convenience of access from Thursday Island, have been 

 depleted and laid waste through overfishing. They have demon- 

 strated the feasibility of bringing in all the shell alive from the 

 outer grounds to the home stations, so that they can be opened 

 and the pearls which they contain can be secured to the rightful 

 proprietors, instead of, as under present conditions, constituting 

 for all practical purposes the perquisites of the divers and boats' 

 crews, an I by whom they are surreptitiously traded away. The 

 possible formation of artificial beds in conjunction with the 

 existing shelling stations, oi" as independent undertakings, on 

 which young shell can be laid down to grow and multiply after 

 the manner of ordinary oysters, has been clearly established by 

 these experiments, and the way is thus opened up to an entirely 

 new developmeiit of the pearl-shell industry. Doubtless with 

 that true conservative instinct that distinguishes fishermen all the 

 world over, the great majority of those engaged in this important 

 industry will be content to continue working along the same 

 groove with which they are alone familiar, reaping all they can of 

 this grand harvest of the sea from where they have not sown, and 

 without the slightest care or compunction for the reapers that 

 follow after. This short-sighted policy especially commends 

 itself to those who, as in many instances, have only a passing 

 interest to serve, and who act merely as representative managers 

 for some absentee firm or employers. Better results may, how- 

 ever, be looked forward to when the boat and station owners have 

 a direct stake in the future prosperity of the industry, and when 

 they are empowered, as I have recommended, to obtain leases of 

 foreshore and water areas, with secure tenure for themselves and 

 their posterity, for the culture of pearl-shell on a basis identical 

 with that on which the oyster fisheries are regulated. In the not 

 very distant future it may be confidently anticipated that all of 

 the most favoui*able water areas in the vicinity of Thursday 

 Island will be utilised for this purpose, the pearl-shell industry 

 not then being in the hands of those who have to proceed, or to 

 send their ayents, as now, to distant grounds in search of shell, 



