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

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white-lip pearl oyster 1 , Pinctada maxima, are widely used in commercial production offarmed pearls, and both of these occur naturally in Solmon Islands. P margaritifera is thesmaller of the two species, and is found throughout the Pacific Islands region, as well asin the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. P maxima has a more limited distribution, and is onlyfound naturally in the western Pacific in high-island countries west of Fiji, althoughattempts have been made to introduce it to Palau, Kiribati, Tonga and other countries.Commercial farming of white-lip pearl shell originally developed on the northern andwestern coasts of Australia. In recent years some Australian operators have movedoffshore, as a result of which new farming operations have spread to Indonesia Vietnam,Cambodia, Philippines and Myanmar. Indonesia has now overtaken Australia as theworld’s largest producer of P. maxima pearls in terms of volume, although not yet interms of value. A single white-lip pearl farm has been operating in Papua New Guineasince about 1995, but there are no others in the Pacific Islands region. Pearls from whitelippearl oysters are generally more valuable than those from black-lip because of theirgold-to-white coloration and larger sizes.Pearl farming using the black-lip pearl shell has been the domain of the Pacific Islandsregion in the central Pacific. It has developed primarily in French Polynesia and CookIslands, of which French Polynesia is by far the most prominent. In recent years black-lippearl farming has spread to Melanesia and Micronesia, particularly to Fiji, wherespectacular and unusually coloured pearls are being produced. Pearl farming wentthrough a 25-year development phase in French Polynesia, and continues to be thebiggest employer and export earner for the country. However the industry has declinedsignificantly in recent years, mainly due to problems of overproduction and poor pearlquality (discussed more later). In 1998 French Polynesia produced around 5 tonnes ofpearls worth over US$ 150 million; in 2002, it exported over 11 tonnes, worth about thesame amount. Average pearl prices have fallen from around US$ 35/ gramme to aboutUS$ 14/ gramme in the past ten years.Pearl farming has contributed enormously to the French Polynesian economy, both due tothe revenues it generates, and because it can be carried out in remote areas and thuscontribute to rural earnings and livelihoods. In its heyday the development of the pearlindustry was accompanied by a reversal of the trend towards urban drift, with manyresidents of the capital, Tahiti, returning to their original homes in the outer islands totake up pearl farming. As a result of falling pearl values, however, the social benefitsbeing derived from the industry are also in decline. Between 1990 and 2008 the numberof pearl farming concessions fell from 2,700 to around 700, with larger producers buyingout many of the smaller family farms during that period. Around 7,000 people are nowthought to be employed in the industry, down from more than three times that figure 15years ago. There are new signs of population drift from outer islands to the capital andother urban centres, and concerns over the social problems this may engender.1 P. maxima is commonly referred to as white-lip, gold-lip and silver-lip. It is not known for certainwhether only one or both these varieties occurs in Solomon Islands. The term white-lip is used here toinclude both varieties.3
PNGSolomon IsPNGCook IsVanuatuFijiFr. PolynFigure 1. Google Earth image of the South Pacific showing pearl farming regionsreferred to in this document. Australian sites from the NW coast, through Torres Straightto southern Queensland are approximated.2.2 Previous pearl oyster exploitation in Solomon IslandsPearl farming in Solomon Islands is not a new idea (see Appendix I). Coincident withthe first modern pulse of MOP harvesting in 1968-1972, attempts were made to establisha pearl culture industry, but this was not successful and closed with the commercial MOPfishery when stocks were so depleted that fishing became uneconomic. A second pulseof MOP harvesting occurred between 1987 and 1994, when an export ban came on inresponse to stock depletion. Shortly after the ban, an experimental black-lip pearl farmwas set up near Gizo in Western Province. By 2000 pearls were produced and sold, butthe experimental farm did not attract commercial investment and ceased to produce pearlsin 2003 when research funds ran out.4
Page 1 and 2: Stimulating investment in pearlfarm
Page 3 and 4: Appendix IAppendix IIAppendix IIIAp
Page 5: various project elements to describ
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Page 11 and 12: to work alongside WorldFish science
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Page 15 and 16: duration of the dive, maximum botto
Page 17 and 18: 3.7 Natural disastersEnvironmental
Page 19 and 20: • Legislative review is underway
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Page 27 and 28: Provisions for further aquaculture
Page 29 and 30: • licences will relate to a parti
Page 31 and 32: species in Australia are 5 - 10 tim
Page 33 and 34: 6.3 Investor’s recommendations fo
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Page 37 and 38: Summary• Historically, the blackl
Page 39 and 40: 1. IntroductionBlacklip pearl oyste
Page 41 and 42: 3. Nationwide surveysIn May-June 20
Page 43 and 44: 10 spat collectors were attached at
Page 45 and 46: On a local scale, it was found that
Page 47 and 48: 3025Normalised catch201510500 2 4 6
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Thus, under the regime developed in
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7.3 Retention and mortality after s
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7.5 Seeding of hatchery-produced sp
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have used average values of $25, $3
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9. ReferencesBraley, R.D. 1997. Fin
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depend mainly on the quality of the
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Report to:World Fish CenterSuitabil
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Suitability of Habitats for Growth
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Report on an EU project grant to th
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1. Governance and political stabili
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Despite its present weaknesses, eff
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payments, but the authorities have
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to recede and presumably vanish und
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outcome is far from certain. There
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existing links, at locations within
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6. Forms of co-investment6.1 Partne
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8. Taxation and incentives8.1 Direc
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10. Labour laws10.1 Foreign workers
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GILLETT, PRESTON AND ASSOCIATES INC
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Page 21. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYPearl far
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Page 42. BACKGROUNDPast research su
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Page 6million; in 2002, it exported
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Page 8the bead in an even, uniform
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Page 10alternative products. Most m
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Page 12fisheries-related activities
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Page 144.3. PolicyThe current gover
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5.2. Stocking densityPage 16Mature
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Page 18or harmful fouling organisms
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Page 20In addition to licensing und
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Page 22Much of this work will have
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Page 24provide them with technical
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Page 26management, disease control,
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Page 28Ministry of Development Plan
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Page 30‘seeding’ means the impl
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Page 326. Provision of statistical
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Page 3414. Aggrieved person may app
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Page 36Division V. Importation, mov
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Page 38(2) Separate fees are payabl
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Page 40Other forms of government su
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Page 42Solomon IslandsPEARL FARMING
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