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at Wreck Reef in 1804 (MacKnight, 1976, p140). By 1827,
bêche-de-mer
were
being exported from Cooktown and, by 1848, the remains of a
bêche-de-mer
smoke-house had been found by the crew of
H.M.S. Rattlesnake
. In 1857, J.S.V.
Mein built a
bêche-de-mer
curing station at Green Island, which operated until
the 1890s, and descriptions of that station were published in
The Sydney Morning
Herald
(26 February 1866) and in the
Cleveland Bay Express
(19 April 1873).
Many other curing stations were established in the Great Barrier Reef and, by
1880,
bêche-de-mer
stations were operating at Lizard Island, Green Island, Fitzroy
Island, the Frankland Islands, the Barnard Islands and Dunk Island; in addition,
the fishery at Cooktown employed thirteen vessels and two hundred workers
(Serventy, 1955, p73; Jones, 1976, p16). Saville-Kent (1890a, p730; 1893, p231)
reported that the period 1881-1883 was the most flourishing for the industry.
By 1889, twenty-seven boats were operating from Cooktown, several boats each
worked from Cairns, Ingham and Townsville, and a total of over 100 vessels were
engaged in the trade.
The fishery was based on the collection of sea cucumbers (
Holothuria spp.
)
from the substrate of the coral reefs. Saville-Kent (1890a, pp729-31) identified
six commercial varieties of
bêche-de-mer
: teat-fish (
H. mammifera
), black-fish (
H.
polymorpha
), red-fish (
H. rugosa
), prickly-fish or prickly-red (
H. hystrix
), lolly-
fish (
H. vagabunda
) and sand-fish (
H. calcarea
). The names and values of those
species in 1890 are shown i
n Table 5.1;
the difficulties associated with the various
scientific nomenclatures for
bêche-de-mer
species have been discussed by Skewes
et al. (2004). Yet Saville-Kent acknowledged that scientific information about
these species - including their breeding habits and growth rates - was scarce
and he implied that a considerable lack of knowledge about the sustainability of
the fishery existed. Nevertheless, a perception of plenty was articulated by some
observers, such as Thorne (1876, p245), who stated that 'considerable quantities'
of
bêche-de-mer
were found in the northern Great Barrier Reef, and Palmer (1879,
p31), who wrote that Queensland's
bêche-de-mer
resource was 'extensive' and that
Local name
Value per ton
Holothuria mammifera
Teat-fish, black and ordinary
Teat-fish, white
£140 to £150
£40
Holothuria rugosa
Red-fish, ordinary and deep water
Red-fish, surf
£100 to £110
£80 to £90
Holothuria polymorpha
Black-fish, deep water
Black-fish, ordinary and Caledonian
£110
£80 to £90
Holothuria vagabunda
Lolly-fish
£35
Holothuria hystrix
Prickly-fish (or prickly-red)
£30 to £40
Holothuria calcarea
Sand-fish
£20 to £30
Source: Based on data provided in Saville-Kent (1890a, pp730-1)
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