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Pearl farmers are often the leaders of the local environmental movement. They have to be vigilant or the oysters, and pearl quality, will suffer. “All companies apply the industry environmental code of conduct which manages waste products from human activity, animal welfare, and vessel movements,” says Brett McCallum of the Pearl Producers Association, Australia.

Pearls are not all that pearl farms produce. First the farms harvest pearls, then the shell, and then the meat. Every pearl producing country sells shells as specimens and uses mother-of-pearl for inlay in furnishings, craftwork, tableware, accessories, and jewelry. In Japan, ashes from burned shells and dried meat become fertilizer. Pearl oyster and abalone meat are often sold both fresh and canned as a delicacy.

Jewelmer takes environmental activism a step further by proactive involvement with the Philippine government in the Save Palawan Seas Foundation, which offers the local community assistance in developing skills, modifying environmentally destructive habits, and education. The goals are to develop opportunities for economic livelihood while maintaining long-term sustainable use of the marine and aquatic resources of coastal communities. Pearl farmers in Japan are also supporting efforts to revive local waters, joining the local government and citizens in the Council of Revival of Nature in Ago Bay.

FRESHWATER RIVER KEEPERS

You can think of the mollusks of the Mississippi and Tennessee River systems as canaries in the ecosystem. Pearl cultivators in the U.S. view monitoring the environment as an essential part of their responsibilities.

“We keep a close watch on the water quality and content,” says Gina Latendresse, president of the American Pearl Company. “It is to our advantage that the waters be in optimal condition for mollusk growth so we report often and stay in constant contact with governmental agencies.” Once pearls are harvested, the meat is used as fish bait, an additive to animal feed, and in composting. Shells are used to make nuclei for pearl cultivation throughout the world.

CHINA’S URBAN PEARLS

The legacy of the Wild West is a memorable part of American history and culture. China is the new Wild East pulsating with unbridled growth and expansion, one that has positioned pearls as a commodity accommodating any and all budgets.

As you travel inland from Shanghai, a patchwork of pearl farms increasingly blankets the countryside. Although free from state controls since the early 1990’s, China requires that farmers be licensed to cultivate pearls. Soda bottles recycled as buoys support countless cages of Hyropsis cumingii, freshwater pearl mussels alongside multistory homes, agricultural fields, and farms. Byproducts from soybean production mixed with pine tree soil and chicken or pig manure are poured into the water to grow plankton which in turn nourishes the mussels.