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Japanese Could Help [?]ere A r e Some Bright Spots in the Pearly Gloom

IFrom J. P. Shortall, in Auckland Contrary to what seems to be impression in many Islands as today, the marine shell iiness has not “had it at

st not quite.

3,UE the outlook is cloudy in deed for the trochus trade, and not much more cheerful in the ite mother-of-pearl shell trade. - there’s still a lot of life m the rklin m o.p. market, as shell lkerPand buyer Paul A. Rie, of w York reports in his annual nmary of the overall outlook.

Ir Rie is in closest touch not v with the American consumer :rket but with that of Europe, too. t is true, he says, that the future white m.o.p. from Australian ters is threatened to an ever iwing extent by the use of ithetic products in the manufac ■e of pearl buttons—the ultimate jtination of almost all shell—and it trochus is already very much t of favour, even with the Jap ese button-makers who were merly the largest consumers of s item But, says Mr. Rie, the black-edged 0.p., which is produced pnncip y in South Pacific areas— mainly ench Polynesia and the Cook ands— continues to be used in tisfactory volume at excellent lees.

Why has the black-lip shell re lined in such good demand, de- Lte the encroachment of nthetics?

Size Factor Mr. Rie’s explanation is that most this type of shell is cut into the rger buttons, I in. to II in. in ameter, mainly for use on high ade women’s garments.

In this size of button the synthetic perts have not been able—yet—to oduce a material of the texture, lour characteristics, and peculiar .descence of true pearl shell. In e smaller sizes for men’s shirts, lere a white material is called for, nthetics are acceptable.

Thus, due to the willingness of L e discriminating and fashion nscious women of America and jrope to pay a little more for a itter looking coat button, French Dlynesia, the Cooks, and to a much sser extent Fiji are in a happy jsition.

They alone can look to the future

qm inv of all the shell pro-

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Unfortunately for the Cook Islands, they are largely missing out on this opportunity, as the prm : cipal producing lagoon of Mamhiki is this year closed to diving operations for the third year in suecession. Conservation restrictions are deemed necessary by the Cook Islands Administration’s advisers. .

Some Incentive Thp that good prices do still pxist for black-lip m.o.p. shell

should however stimulate activity

at Penrhyn lagoon in the Northern Cooks—less easy to dive but undoubtedly containing much shell.

The same incentive should apply for renewed exploitation of Suwarrow, which, currently uninhabited, must represent a strong temptation to possible illegal exploitation by Japanese vessels which may drop in.

If no one in the Cooks is willing or capable of carrying out operations in the rather deep Suwarrow lagoon n it might well be P worth the Administration entering into some arrangement with Japanese or other outsld^dlver* 1 under strict supervision as to quantities and sizes fished, on a no-cure-no-pay basis of payment per ton delivered, just as Japanese fishermen are paid for the tuna which they deliver to the Pago Pago and Pallikulo canneries.

There is little doubt that Japanese firms like the Taiyo Company, which

operates the only Japanese pearling fleet in northern Australian waters as well as tuna mother-ship fleets, or the Nippon Suisan Company, would be glad to talk business along these lines.

Spend Something!

The Administration might well use a fair share of the proceeds of such operations for research and develop ment of the industry.

All through the post-war years of good shell prices and high shell yields from Manihiki not a cent was spent on such development. Now at last something is being done by the newly-formed Fishery Department and with the aid of expert advice from overseas —but funds will obviously be needed in large amounts to press forward with this work.

It is unthinkable that Suwarrow should be left lying idle if there is shell there which can be expolited— and there is every reason to believe that this is the case, from the two short periods of diving operations which have been carried out in recent years.

So long as copra prices remain high the local Cook Islands divers are not going to show much en thusiasm towards the rather difficult diving conditions at Suwarrow.

Therefore why not, like the Tonga Government —perhaps even in con junction with the Tonga Govern ment —make full use of the avail able Japanese talent in this field?

Through the use of such skilled divers the proceeds of Suwarrow might well represent, as Manihiki has represented in recent years, a very substantial contribution to the Cook Islands budget.