South Seas Treasures

As products of living animals, pearls are unique among gems. In size, shape and color, they exist in an amazing variety of forms -- far more than just small, round and white. The global market for pearl jewelry is worth US$1.5 billion, a quarter of which is in black pearls. Two species of oyster are used for production of saltwater pearls, the black-lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) and the white- or gold-lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada maxima). The black-lipped pearl oyster can produce pearls in a variety of colours; the most desirable colours are peacock green, aubergine purple, ocean blue, various grays and iridescent colors. Pearls produced from the white-lipped pearl oyster can be white or shades of yellow and gold.

Solomon Islands Black Pearls

In nature pearls are rare, but their high value meant that when techniques were developed to encourage oysters to develop pearls it rapidly developed into a lucrative industry. Modern pearl culturing techniques involve seeding a small, spherical “nucleus” into live pearl oysters in a way that induces the animal to secrete layers of pearl nacre onto this until a pearl is formed. In the central Pacific the industry, based on black-lipped pearl oysters, developed about 30 years ago and is worth US$56 million in Cook Islands and US$200 million in French Polynesia. White-lipped pearl oysters do not occur in French Polynesia and culture of this pearl is concentrated in Western Australia. In recent years technology for culturing both pearls has spread, and with it the potential for the industry to provide livelihood options for rural communities.

WorldFish is undertaking research to determine whether a sustainable pearl culture industry can be established in the Solomon Islands. This research is in collaboration with the European Union and Solomon Island’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and historically benefited from funding from the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research.

Solomon Islands is one of the Pacific region's poorest countries. The troubled nation is slowly recovering from years of civil unrest which shattered the economy and the country’s reputation as a place to visit and do business. Add to this natural disasters, such as the April 2007 tsunami, in a country of 900 islands across 100,000 square nautical miles of ocean, with 69 local languages and limited transport and communications infrastructure and the reasons for slow development are clear. Rural communities have few income-generating opportunities and a high proportion of the population lives an essentially subsistence lifestyle with a high reliance on coastal marine resources. Although it has only a small population (500,000 people) Solomon Islands has one of the highest rates of population increase in the region (around 2.5%) and this is expected to result in increased,and potentially unsustainable, pressure on natural resources for subsistence and for cash. Industries such as pearl farming which are based on non-perishable and easy to ship commodities offer opportunities for the most remote locations, as demonstrated by the success of the industry in French Polynesia and Cook Islands.

Rural village in Isabel Province Solomon Islands.

The current research programme involves both types of pearl oyster; Solomon Islands is fortunate in that both species co-exist, occupying different parts of the nearshore habitat. It seeks to provide the underpinning information that is required by pearl farmers to decide on whether to invest in Solomon Islands – pearl farms are typically expensive to establish and may take several years to become profitable so an experienced investor is probably the best route to pearl farming. The information required falls into three main areas; ecological information on the prevalence and characteristic of pearl oysters in the region, economic information on the investment climate in Solomon Islands and policy information on how the Solomon Islands government will implement legislation and policy that affects pearl farming. WorldFish and collaborating organizations are addressing all of these issues.

Spat of black-lipped pearl oyster collected in Solomon Islands.

Existing technologies for pearl farming are mostly based on wild stocks of pearl oysters. In the case of the black-lipped pearl oyster this involves collection of planktonic juveniles (spat) and growing them to a size where they can begin to produce pearls. For white-lipped pearl oysters spat are less easy to collect and instead adults of a size for pearl culture are harvested. In both species there is also an increasing focus on culture of animals. In Solomon Islands, WorldFish have successfully developed techniques for collection of black-lipped spat and have recently completed a nationwide survey of the stocks of white-lipped pearl oysters. In addition, a pilot black pearl farm has been established in the Western Province of the islands. Demonstration cultured pearls from the farm have been made into jewelry and sold in Australia and Solomon Islands. Sales brought in more than US$45,000, which was returned to the people of the Solomons in the form of donations to the Gizo hospital near the demonstration farm.

Currently approaches are being proposed that will allow villagers to become involved in pearl farming at a range of levels. Villagers have already been introduced to the process of catching spat on simple collectors suspended in the water column, and then growing them on for potential sale to commercial farms. In addition, rural communities can benefit from direct employment on farms or by entering into joint ventures with companies interested in using their customary waters for collection or grow-out of oysters. Pearl farming technology developed in Solomon Islands has previously been taken up elsewhere in the Pacific and further development of the industry in Solomon Islands may serve as a model for similar scale ventures elsewhere in the Pacific.

The competitive edge for Solomon Islands is likely to be with pearl farming companies wanting to cut costs. Operating costs on the islands are far lower than in the main production centers of French Polynesia and Australia, and the presence of both black- and white-lipped pearls a the same place may also be an attraction. Throughout the Solomon Islands there are communities eager to take up opportunities for advancement offered by a partial entry into the cash economy. A sustainable rural income option is what is needed and pearl farming may be at least part of the solution.