torresstraitislands

The Aru Islands Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of 6,426.77 km2 (2,481.39 sq mi). At the 2011 Census the Regency had a population of 84,138;[2] the 2020 Census produced a total of 102,237,[3] and the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 103,860.[4] Some sources regard the archipelago as part of Asia, while others regard it as part of Melanesia. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aru_Islands_Regency

Pearling became the largest industry in far north Queensland in the 1890s and had a massive impact on coastal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It was the only industry ever exempted from the provisions of the White Australia policy because it was the economic pillar supporting the far north with cheap labour from the South Pacific and Asia. Its legacy is a history of mixed populations in the far north that defies the standard historical image of a white Australia. Source: www.qhatlas.com.au/content/pearling

Description of Aru The Aru Islands consist of six main islands separated by narrow channels, which in the absence of a road network are the highways of Aru. Shipping is also protected by a line of small is-lands and reefs along the eastern shores, and one can travel in shel-tered waters. Only on the western shores are the villages exposed to the oceanic swells, and for part of the year these are suppressed by the southeast trade winds. The main commercial center is Dobo, on the west coast, with a population of 5500. The principal shell beds lie on the east coast backcountry (blakang-tanali). Source: www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/sampans-belangs-and-junkos/

Sketty Belle (ship, 1877) Type: Pearling schooner Completed: 1877 History 1877 Named 'Crest of the Wave Official number: 74939 Port: Sydney Owner: John Saunders 1898 Owner: George Smith 1900 or 1901 Renamed Sketty Belle; Flag: Australia Port: Sydney Owner: George Smith 1907 No longer in register Source commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sketty_Belle_(ship,_1877)

From 1863 to the 1980's hundreds of pearling vessels worked the East and West coasts of Queensland, Torres Strait and for some years in the Aru Islands of Indonesia. Of these, we believe that there are only 14 identified Torres Strait pearling luggers, 1 former pearl shell carrier and 2 former Torres Strait missionary vessels remaining. TORRES PEARL Formerly named SEDNEY, the Torres Pearl is currently located in Tasmania in private ownership. She has an aft-wheelhouse and those lugger lines. TORRES HERALD Torres Herald was also built by Norman Wright and Sons with her last known location being when she sank in 2014 in the Calliope River near Gladstone. Source: pearlingluggers.com.au/last-of-the-luggers