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70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
1901
1905
1909
1913
1917
1921
1925
1929
1933
1937
Year
Figure 5.2 Values of bêche-de-mer harvested in Queensland, 1901-1940. Source: Compiled
from data provided in NADC (1946, p44)
zenith in 1907 and that, since then, the reefs 'were fished bare'; consequently,
they recommended a closure of the Queensland fishery for two years, enforced
by a prohibition of bêche-de-mer exports from all Queensland ports. The Royal
Commission concluded that the Queensland fishery was 'suffering from severe
depression, which has resulted mainly from depletion of natural supplies'
(Mackay et al., 1908, p. lxxiii). Although the complete closure of the fishery
did not take place, a reduction in fishing effort was achieved by discontinuing
the issue of licences for Asian vessels. The subsequent decline in revenue for
the bêche-de-mer fishery is shown in Figure 5.2, which illustrates the fluctuating
values of bêche-de-mer harvests in Queensland for the period 1901-1940, and
the overall improvement in the profitability of the industry between 1910 and
1920.
In 1912, Mackellar (1912, p8) referred to the continuing operation of bêche-
de-mer fishers in the Great Barrier Reef. By the end of the first decade of the
twentieth century, an increase in the export value of bêche-de-mer had taken
place, followed by a much greater expansion of the industry during and after
the First World War, as Figure 5.2 suggests. In 1920 and 1922, the value of the
harvests exceeded £60,000 in each year. Those years, however, represented the
peak of the fishery and, after 1922, the fishery again declined. Some bêche-de-mer
fishing continued during the 1930s; one lugger working near Green Island at that
time is shown in Figure 5.3, and substantial quantities of bêche-de-mer continued
to be removed from the reefs. For example, in 1933, the Townsville Harbour
Board published its annual returns, stating that 86 tons 16 cwt of bêche-de-mer
had been exported, and the trans-shipment of a further 11 tons 16 cwt 2 qtr had
occurred. In September 1936, a cargo of 6 tons of bêche-de-mer was handled at
Bowen Harbour by the A.U.S.N. Company. Another shipment, of 3 tons 19 cwt,
was made in April 1937 (Anonymous, 1933a, p37) . 1
During the 1930s, some optimism about the fishery remained, as Glenne
(1938, pp155-6) suggested:
 
 
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