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Definition of pearl diving: The act of diving for the precious gems pearls. These pearls could be found in pearl oyster deep in the ocean. In the past, pearl oyster was a source of wealth in the Emirates long time before the discovery of oil in UAE. To people of the Emirates, the pearling industry offered a major, if seasonal, form of employment.
At the beginning of the 20th century, one calculations tells that over 1,200 pearling boats were operating out of the Trucial States ( In the coast of Oman), each of them carrying an average crew of 18 men. This shows that during the summer (pearling season) most able-bodied men, numbering more than 22,000 were absent on the pearl banks, employed by pearling industry. Furthermore, the industry reached its peak shortly before the market was undermined by the cultivation of cultured pearls in the 1920s and the economic depression of the 1930s coupled with Indian taxation completed the destruction of the pearling industry.
This event has led to a great deal of hardship, since the local economy, from supplies for the pearling fleets to boat-building was centred around pearling.
In UAE, the pearling was never merely a trade or a means of subsistence for the population, but it was an entirely integrated social system which has left a rich heritage of traditions. This was one of the reason why UAE experienced great impact when pearling industry became destroyed in 20th century.
In pearl diving industry, outsiders were forbidden to engage in pearling without permission of the rulers. Furthermore, pearls were to be gathered only by the traditional practice of diving, for which the use of modern diving equipment was banned. For this reason, the time-honoured methods, first developed thousands of years ago to harvest pearl oysters, continued to survive until the demise of the industry itself.
Once the boats for pearl diving has departed, depending on the preference or particular strategy of the captain of that ship, a pearling boat might anchor for the entire season at one pearl bank or even move from bank to bank. Sometimes, short trips were made to ports for the renewal of food supply for the journey.
In the early 20th century, the pearl diving season was divided into three. Between them, the main dive was called 'ghaus al kabir'. In pearl diving season, all the boats from the same port under the authority of one sheikh departed at the beginning of June and returned to port together, approximately 120 days later, towards the end of September.
In pearl diving industry, Sambuks were mostly employed as pearling boats, but the other boats like Barqarah and Shu'ai also had a place in the industry.
For average pearling veseel, the normal complement of crew was about 18-20 men. Eight divers (ghasah), ten haulers (siyub) and an appretice (walaid) who fished, cooked, cleaned and took care of the coffee. On larger boats, a 'nahham' was employed, to coordinate the evocative rhythmical chants used to ease the rigorous tasks on board. Finally, the captain (nukhada) chose the location of the dive and also took control of the sale of the catch.
When the pearling boat arrived to pearl bank and became ready to collect pearls, the divers and haulers got ready to work. Before diving, the divers had light breakfast of coffee and dates, and they worked until an hour before sunset. Divers pegged their nose with clips of turtle shell and blocked their ears with wax. To get to the bottom, they used a stone(hajar) to attach it to divers' foot to plummet down. Once they reached the bottom, they quickly filled their attached basket with as many shells as possible. To rise to surface, they signalled by a tug on their rope that they needed to be hauled to the surface, then the stone was pulled by their attendant haulers on board ship. Moreover, to protect their fingers from collecting pearls, they were protected by leather caps.
During the journey, their food supply were rice, drinking water, dates, coffee and fish from storage and also from fishing of apprentice. They normally ate fish and rice together, complemented by dates and coffee at their evening meal. For diver's breakfast, as they have to dive from morning, they had light breakfast on coffee and date.