Pearls the Environment and Econo

As salespeople we speak of fashion and style. Luster Surface Size Color and all the common issues associated with the love and admiration of the pearl.

An area associated with the pearl and pearling that is rarely promoted is the environmental and economic ramifications of the cultured pearl industry.

A cultured pearl farm by its nature requires a pristine environment to succeed and flourish. Pearl oysters are sensitive creatures, susceptible to even subtle changes in the environment without such an environment the mollusks cannot flourish to do their magic.

There is no better example of this than Japan the creator of the cultured pearl industry. The Japanese cultured pearl production flourished in the bountiful waters until Japanese heavy industrial industry began to flourish. As the economy transformed Lake Biwa could no longer sustain the fragile environment thus ending Japan’s dominance of the freshwater pearl market.

Today the pearl industry recognizes that protecting a pristine marine environment is essential to the farms success. The pearl farms have become leading environmental advocates in their part of the world.

The essence of pearl farming lies in the fact that it generates and sustains life. It makes sure that the circle of life continues far into the future for the coming generations to appreciate the beauty of experience the amazing diversity of marine life.

As a marine protected area, pearl farms provide clean environment/ habitats that attract a variety of marine life to stay and seek refuge in these marine cocoons.

Cages used primarily in the cultivation of oysters have also other equally important benefits to the environment where they are placed. These act as cradles/ shelter and breeding areas for aquatic flora and fauna.

Underwater baskets bring continuous support for attachment and proliferation of microorganisms such as larvae and phytoplanktons.

At a pearl farm in Palawan, Philippines, the pearl farm areas were the only ones where there was any reasonable coral reef left. Prior to the farm’s establishment, dynamite fishing was rampant throughout the area. To this day, the reefs that lie outside of the range of the farm are completely damaged. The reefs beneath the pearl farm rafts and loglines are indescribably beautiful

Pearl farms can help over fished stocks recover by acting as reproductive nodes – aggregations of large, densely packed, well-tended adult oysters. The large number of fecund oysters, in close proximity to each other, results in better synchronization of spawning, higher fertilization rates, and far greater numbers of viable larvae, compared to the conditions of a depleted population, where oysters may be hundreds of meters, or even miles, apart. In French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, stocks formerly suffered from continual boom-and-bust fishing for the oysters, solely for the value of the pearl shell. However, over the last few decades, since the advent of large-scale farming in these atolls, spat falls and wild oyster stocks have both increased dramatically.

Pearl farming thereby relieves pressure on other marine resources, such as reef fisheries, that might otherwise be subject to unsustainable commercial exploitation.

Pearl farming also encourages island communities towards greater stewardship over their natural resources, and fosters reassertion of their traditional tenure regimes.

Pearl oysters are filter feeders, and require no supplementary feeding. In areas of high water turbidity, the oysters may even improve water quality, by clearing suspended particulates. The animals are highly susceptible to any environmental perturbation, which is why farms are often located in remote areas. Farmers therefore are often strong advocates for marine environmental protection and management.

A major problem facing most of the island nations in th

e Pacific is that they have relatively few opportunities to generate income (Adams, 1998). The economies of most Pacific countries are limited due to small landmasses, few terrestrial resources and low numbers of inhabitants. To ensure further development, island nations must make the most of the one important resource they all have - the sea.

Pearl farming is an ideal development opportunity for remote communities. It is a sustainable, lucrative industry, and in many cases it provides both direct and indirect benefits to the environment. The direct benefits are from reducing the pressure on stocks depleted by years of pearl shell fishing, and fostering the recovery of pearl oyster populations. Indirect benefits are in providing a viable, sustainable industry for rural areas and isolated atolls, and in encouraging greater stewardship of marine resources.

Pearl farming is eminently sustainable, from a stock management perspective. In almost every pearling area in the world today, farming is based on spat produced in hatcheries, or taken from artificial spat collectors. The only continuing reliance on fishing of wild stocks for farms is in northern and western Australia, where the collection of wild oysters is a tightly regulated, stable fishery.

Implementation of on-going ecological projects like seaweed farming and tree planting, as well as future projects in conducting applied, practical research and development and initiating pilot projects and setting up alternative livelihood projects are currently undertaken by pearl farmers in the Philippines.

Pearl farmers aim to create a paradigm shift in the minds of the neighboring communities to open up to the idea of being stewards of their own land and seas and take a personal stand for the protection of the environment.

The Pearl is the only Gem that is not ripped from the earth scaring its surface and damaging its ecosystem.

Therefore when promoting pearls don’t forget in the world of conflict diamonds and strip-mining that there is an eco-friendly gem that is beautiful in more ways than one.