Page 264 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (I)_Neat

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THE PEARL INDUSTRY.

The state of this industry, the mainstay of Bahrain,
*
has gone from had to worse, the condition of the pearl
market is deplorable and there is hardly a single bign
merchant or naukhuda who is not in financial difficulties.

According tonLa Perle” which is the official perio­
dical of the pearl and precious stone industry in Paris,

the catch during the last season was n0ne quarter or one
fifth of 1930 which was already small” The article
which I quote also states that only one third of the

boats that went out in 1930 were fishing in 1931 and
the quality and size of the pearls was inferior to the
previous season.

It is di ult for me to obtain an accurate estimate
of the value of the seasons pearls as they are not sub­
ject to customs valuation. About half the naukhudas

employ the official diving clerks to make their accounts
and from these accounts I can form a somewhat rough

estimate of the annual production, assuming that the rest
of the boats whose accounts are made independently, and
which I have had no opportunity of examining, obtained
a proportionate amount of pearls.

It must be remembered that these values are the amounts
paid by the land naukhudas or Tajars, to the sea naukhudas
and by the time the pearls reach the final purchaser in

Bahrain they may have changed hands many times and will
certainly have increased very much in price, One known
example of this was a pearl produced some years ago which

was sold by the finder for '.a 75,000/- ana eventually
changed hands in' Bahrain for two lacs.

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