FAQ

Are the pearls found naturally in the oysters in the sea?

Yes, but in very rare cases. Pearls are grown commercially through a “culture” process where a bead is placed in the muscle of the pearl oyster which secretes layers of a film called “nacre” around the bead as it would if a grain of sand or another irritant gets into the oyster naturally.

How are the oysters caught?

The pearling industry uses divers with surface air systems to work from vessels on the known pearl oyster grounds around 80 mile beach near Broome. The divers hand pick the oysters which lay on the sea bed almost covered with sand. Divers are very experienced in finding the pearl oysters at the right size as set by the Department of Fisheries WA without disturbing the oysters which are below the minimum size.

Does oyster fishing impact the environment?

Pearl oyster fishing is the most benign fishing method in commercial fishing. Divers ‘hand pick’ the oysters of the size that they require without touching the sea floor. There is no fishing gear used, no levers to remove the shell from the sea floor. Shell are placed in baskets around the divers neck and sent to the surface for grading.

Pearl stocks are managed by a quota which sets a maximum number of oysters that can be taken by the industry in any year and is closely monitored by the Department of Fisheries through inspections on the catching vessels, a tagging system and sophisticated stock assessment research.

Pearl farms take up all the water space in the North West of WA?

This is not true! There is a strict limiting formula on the area that a pearl farm can cover based on the pearl oyster quota held by any company.

Because the total number of oysters held is quota based there is a natural limit on the area that can be covered by pearl farms by applying the stockholding formula.

Pearl farms cover less than 1.6% of the area in the less than 20 fathoms depth zone in the Pilbrar/Kimberley region.

Pearl leases stop other water users accessing areas?

This is incorrect! A pearl lease is not exclusive in use to a pearling company but allows other water users to move through and use parts of the water within the lease area. Navigation markers and other channel markers for general marine traffic use are a legal requirement on pearl farmers. Latest official maps will have all pearl farms marked.

The pearling companies have also developed a protocol which will assist the other water users to better communicate and understand the way to access pearl leases areas for their own activities.

There is no opportunity for the community to comment on pearl lease applications?

This is not true! Pearling lease applications are subject to a major public and environmental process requiring significant data preparation and consultation. The process is managed through the Department of Fisheries which co-ordinates all other government departments and community inputs.

How important is the pearling industry to WA?

The pearling industry contributes over $200 million per annum to the WA economy in the value of exports and over $600 million dollars in wages, gear purchases and fuel etc in the local WA economy.

Over 850 people are directly employed in pearling industry.

Where are the pearls sold?

Pearls from WA are sold throughout the world especially into Japan, US and Europe. This ranges from world wide gem wholesale distributors in Hong Kong to the exclusive jewelers such as Tiffiny’s in New York and Cartier in Paris.

Pearls are sold individually for use in jewellery or as pearl strands worn around the neck of many, many women throughout the world.

WA pearls are known as some of the best in the world because of the high number of round pearls, their large size, brilliant lustre and silky smoothness of the surface.

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