Marakayar Pearl Diving Thoothukudi Tamil Nadu

The Marakayar Muslim community of Thoothukudi and the Paravar Christian community of Tuticorin and Kilakarai maintained for centuries one of the world most productive pearl oyster fisheries on the Tuticorin banks of the Gulf of Mannar, diving to depths of 8 to 15 metres on a single breath to collect Pinctada fucata pearl oysters from the natural oyster beds, in an industry that supplied natural pearls to Mughal courts, Portuguese traders, and the Dutch and British East India Companies. Traditional pearl diving required the diver to descend rapidly holding a weight stone, collect oysters in a mesh bag tied to the waist, and surface before oxygen ran out, with experienced divers able to complete 30 to 40 dives per day during the brief March-May diving season. The Tuticorin natural pearl fishery effectively ended in the early twentieth century due to overharvesting and shell disease, but the Marakayar and Paravar communities retain the diving knowledge, boat-building skills, and the trading networks for chank shell and conch that continue as livelihoods. The Pearl Fisheries Department maintained historical records of the Gulf of Mannar pearl banks and there are periodic scientific proposals to rehabilitate the natural oyster beds.