| Pearl diving changed
significantly since the mid-sixties. Diving techniques changed first.
It is now illegal to use diving suits with compressed air tanks for
oyster fishing, but the use of diving masks, snorkels, fins and weight
belts is perfectly legal, and these have greatly facilitated the diver's
underwater manoeuvres.
Beginning in 1970, new regulations set maximum quotas per lagoon
and per diving season. Reserve stocks of oysters are being built
up in each lagoon and it is illegal to harvest oysters less than
13 centimetres (4.5 inches) in diameter. The oysters are no longer
opened and sacrificed in the instant search for pearls; they are
instead for the production of cultured pearls. Diving was not satisfying
the demand for production and is no longer the main source of oysters
for pearl culture.
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