The Cultivation of the Mother-of-pearl Oyster in the Red Sea

Abstract

This is an abbreviated form of the original manuscript prepared by the author following 16 years' work at Dongonab Bay in the Red Sea in an attempt to establish a pearl oyster cultivation industry.

The environmental conditions at Dongonab, the species of pearl oysters in the Red Sea, and the detailed biology of Pinctada margaritifera (L.), the species used for the experiments, are discussed.

Details are given of the methods developed for the collection of spat and the cultivation of the pearl-shell to marketable size. It was unfortunate that the improvements designed in 1921 were not used for commercial production, because the Sudan Government did not continue the scheme.