Stimulating investment in pearl farming in ... - World Fish Center

2. History of blacklip trade in Solomon IslandsSome small scale trading and exchanges involving blacklip and other oyster shells, aswell as copra, ivory, nuts, sandalwood and tortoise shell took place in the early historyof Solomon Islands. However, there was no proper record kept, and thus no figurescan be estimated on the amount and value of the shells traded during those earlyyears.The only up to date record of blacklip exports from the Solomon Islands was a listproduced by the Statistics Division of the MFMR, on all marine species exportedfrom the country. Reports on blacklip only show figures starting from 1983 to 1994(Figure 1). For a decade from 1983 export volume fluctuated around a mean of 30,000kg (equivalent to approximately 50,000 shell at 0.6 kg per shell 1 ). No data areavailable on fishing effort between years, nor on the locations form which shell came.There was no legal export of blacklip exports after 1994 because of a Government banon all pearl shell exports. It is important to note that these figures are only for exportsand does not include records of blacklip shells that are used locally and perhaps tradedas souvenir to tourists.Value ($SBD)Value: Dollars (SBD)700000Amount (Kg)60000050000040000030000020000010000001982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 199650,00045,00040,00035,00030,00025,00020,00015,00010,0005,0000Amount (kg)YearFigure 1. Export of blacklip shell from Solomon Islands for mother of pearl.1 0.6 kg per individual based on weighing of 100 dry adult shells from the Nusa Tupe trial pearl farm.2