Indian High Sea

The waters west of Sri Lanka form part of a broad Indian Ocean space between the island, southern India and the Maldives. To the north, the Gulf of Mannar supported a long-established pearl fishery, with oyster banks along both the Indian and Sri Lankan shores.

Portuguese authorities took control of Mannar in 1560 and organised pearl fishing there; a Dutch East India Company letter also records a fishery in 1658. Parava fishing communities were involved in the industry, and Portuguese officials brought some families from the South Indian fishery coast to Mannar. The trade connected skilled coastal labour and valuable marine products with merchants and rulers across the region.