After the destruction of the "Compañía Criadora de Concha y Perla", the only source for pearls was once more the fishery of the native pearl beds. A huge effort was done on the part of the armadores (owners of the pearl fishing fleets) and their divers. Yaqui and Seri Indians were considered to be the best pearl divers available, diving down to depths of 15 meters (around 50 ft) in order to fish those oysters that had been left undisturbed because of the perilous depths...but as the fishing intensified, fewer pearls were obtained.

Later on came the helmeted divers, fishing for oysters at depths of over 20 meters (60 ft), and pearls once more started ebbing out of these waters. But by the 1940's no more pearls could be obtained from the California peninsula, those that were found came from Sonoran waters thanks to the undisturbed pearl beds around "Isla Tiburón", but the circle of destruction had been drawn: finally -after 470 years of irrational overfishing-  the pearls from the Sea of Cortez became a legend of old...

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