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Farmers risk vs reward Oyster anatomy Production Evolution Export Tax Benifits

Pearl Farmers Risk vs Reward

The fragile Pinctada requires constant care from the farmers of the lagoons, who must take enormous financial risks to cultivate them for pearl production.

The atolls of Tahiti and the Cook Islands are coral crowns growing on the summits of volcanoes that became dormant millions of years ago. Coral is a living structure that regenerates as erosion reduces it to dust.

Ecological miracles, the atolls draw their nutritive substances from the cold waters, which are rich in mineral salts lying at great depths, while the coral crown grows and spreads out through photosynthesis under a tropical sun. This is where pearl oysters find a favorable environment for their development.

The process of raising a pearl oyster is a long one and requires considerable care and attention because the species is fragile. Pearl farmers constantly watch over the black-lipped oyster. Should the weather look stormy, the pearl farmer immerses the oysters more deeply in the lagoon. Should the weather turn too warm, he moves them to a cooler place.

Such tender, loving care eventually produces cultured pearls that are perfect at birth, needing no molding or shaping, just the enhancement of their natural beauty with other jewels worthy of such perfection.

Anatomy of the Black Lipped Oyster ( Pinctada Margaritifera )

Species of this shell are widely distributed throughout tropical Indo-Pacific waters from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of California and from Japan to the southern islands of the Pacific. More specifically, this oyster also is found in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, New Caledonia, the Philippines, Panama and the Gulf of California.

An adult Pinctada oyster can reach a diameter of 30 centimeters (11.8 inches), with a weight exceeding 5 kilograms (11 pounds). Rare specimens as large as 9 kilos (19.8 pounds) have been harvested.

Production Evolution

Pre-war production of cultured black pearls using Pinctada margaritifera oysters existed in locales such as the Ryukyu Islands around Okinawa, Palau and in the Marshall Islands. However, these efforts never really reached volumes suitable for broad, international commercialisation. Global exploitation started in Tahiti with the first serious trials beginning in 1961 by a Japanese pearl oyster technician, contracted under a project sponsored by the French Polynesian Administration. Four years later, the first 1,000 black cultured pearls were harvested . . . and privately owned pearl farming was encouraged.

The next year, 1966, the first privately-owned pearl farm was established on the island of Manihi in the Tuamotu Atoll. 1972 saw the first recorded official export of Tahitian cultured pearls; it was not giant in size, a mere 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs.) which garnered a modest US$ 3,663. 1983 saw exports jump to 37 kan (138.8 kg), valued at US$ 5 million; this impetus kicked the industry into high gear.

In 1992 exports exceeded one ton for the first time ever: 285 kan (1,069 kg) valued at US$ 43.5 million. A short four years later, exports exceeded five tons for the first time ever (1,360 kan or 5,099 kg), valued at US$ 152.4 million; the Cook Islands, in second place as a producer of black pearls, produced a total of 53 kan (200 kg) worth just less than US$ 4 million in this same year.

From 1994 on, there were impressive leaps in exports. 1996 saw the highest volume of exported pearls (5.4 tons) to date, and last year saw the all-time highest value (14.6 billion CFP), although in terms of the US$ it was slightly less than 1996’s total (US$ 155 m vs. US$ 138 m), due to variations in currency exchange.

In the first quarter of this year, compared to that of last year, export volume was 12.5% higher . . . value was 36% higher . . . and the average price-per-gram was 22% higher. Mark this trend.

Overview:

French Polynesia produces roughly 93 to 95% of all the pearls cultured worldwide in the black-lipped oyster, Pinctada margaritifera. The total pearl cultivation area of French Polynesia is vast, stretching over 2,300 kilometres. There are over four hundred farms engaged in pearl culture here, but one company dominates by producing about half of the annual output, with four others producing about another 35%.

The sizes of pearls cultured in French Polynesia range from 7 mm to 14 mm (pearls larger than 14 mm are also produced, but their number is very limited), and the average size is 10 mm. The cultivation or breeding time varies quite considerably. Farmers concentrating on smaller pearls (below 10 mm in size) usually limit the breeding time to a period of twelve to fourteen months; for larger pearls, farmers often leave them in the oysters for up to two years. There is little downside to the shorter cultivation period of smaller French Polynesian pearls, as their coatings are relatively thick and healthy.

Export Tax Benifits

The Cook Islands have no export tax for black pearls.

wholesale-blackpearls.com has a tax exemption on all export sales which include loose pearls, pearl strands and finished jewelry.

As wholesale-blackpearls.com is based in the Cook Islands our customers enjoy this export tax exemption.

Pearl exports from French Polynesia are subject to an export tax known as "Droit Specifique sur les Perles a l'exportation" (DSPE). This amounts to approx. USD1.60 per gram of pearls to be exported. Worked pearls and strands with clasps are not exempt from this export tax.