Pearl oyster resource development in the western Pacific

Overall Progress

Continuing success in the hatchery production of blacklip pearl oysters in Kiribati has supported expansion of Project activities and establishment of a 'demonstration pearl farm' at Abaiang which currently holds around 80,000 oysters. The farm provides a focal point for Project research and for training members of the community and Fisheries personnel in pearl oyster culture techniques. It currently maintains seeded pearl oysters, from which pearls will be harvested in 2003, as well as oysters to be seeded for pearl production in 2003. Hatchery production will also support expansion of Project activities to other islands in Kiribati though the establishment of five satellite farms planned for 2003. Concurrent with these developments, a Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC) has been established which brings together representatives of relevant Ministries and other agencies. The POCC has been approved by the Government of Kiribati, to which it will provide advice relating to development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. A draft Development Plan has been formulated to provide a framework for this process. It addresses relevant technical and political issues and will be amended during the Project on the basis of Project outcomes. Project research in Tonga was successful in producing hatchery-reared blacklip pearl oyster juveniles, which will provide a basis for future research to develop suitable culture methods for juvenile and adult oysters.

The three major research objectives of this Project extension are:

Objective 1 - Development towards a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati.

Production of pearls at Abaiang atoll, Kiribati using hatchery-bred oysters;
Approximately 1,000 hatchery-reared oysters were seeded for pearl production in August 2001. Pearls will be harvested in August 2003 when a second seeding of 5,000 oysters will be conducted. Detailed reports of the seeding in 2001 are appended (Appendix 1 & 2).

Establish experimental cultured pearl farms at Abaiang atoll, Kiribati;
A second farm has been established in Abaiang lagoon; however, further discussions between MNRD, Abaiang Island Council and the Ministry of Home Affairs are required regarding community involvement in this farm. A second experimental farm will be established at Abaiang during 2003. The siting of this farm and the degree of community involvement will be determined through discussions between Abaiang Island Council, MNRD and the Ministry of Home Affairs

Examine the rate of spat collection of P. margaritifera at Kiritimati (Christmas) Island (Line Islands, Kiribati) and determine growth rates of spat/juveniles under culture conditions;
MNRD personnel based at Kiritimati Island have been trained in pearl culture and spat collection methods. Spat collection/culture equipment will be sent to the island in early 2003 to begin spat collection studies.

Conduct surveys of appropriate islands in the Gilbert group and Kiritimati Island to determine potential sites for future pearl culture;
Fisheries Assistants from Butaritari, Onotoa and Abemama have been trained in pearl culture techniques at Abaiang and have returned to their home islands. It was initially planned to send oyster spat to these islands in 2002 to assess growth rates, and for senior project staff to visit the islands to assess potential culture sites in the same year. However, these activities will now take place in 2003.

Facilitate formulation of a Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan for Kiribati;
A draft Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan has been completed via the Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC). The POCC has been approved by Cabinet and will provide advice to the Minister on the development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. The Plan will be amended during the Project on the basis of Project outcomes.

Objective 2 - Produce P. margaritifera spat through hatchery culture in Tonga.

Hatchery production of P. margaritifera spat in Tonga;
A hatchery run and training of two Fisheries staff was undertaken in Nov/Dec 2001. Approximately 300,000 spat were produced. Spat were divided between Vava'u and Sopu for nursery culture. A second hatchery run planned for late 2002 was postponed until 2003.

Assess growth and survival of oyster juveniles under culture conditions.
Spat transferred to Vava'u were all lost as a result of Cyclone Waka in early 2002. Approximately 1,350 hatchery reared spat from Sopu were used to establish nursery experiments at Sopu and Vava'u, to determine growth rates in different culture units.

Objective 3 - Produce up to date culture manual for P. margaritifera.

Obtain relevant literature relating to cultivation of P. margaritifera and research into pearl quality from French Polynesia and Cook Islands;
Literature relating to pearl quality and oyster cultivation has been gathered from Polynesia and other sources. This process is on-going. The information gathered will be used to update the Culture Manual (see below) which will be completed in 2003.

Revise/update the Culture Manual produced during FIS97/31.
New information relating to spat collection, spat identification, oyster cultivation and pearl quality has been written into the document and this process will continue as more relevant information comes to hand. The document will be completed by the end of 2003.

Overall Progress

Continuing success in the hatchery production of blacklip pearl oysters in Kiribati has supported expansion of Project activities and establishment of a 'demonstration pearl farm' at Abaiang which currently holds around 80,000 oysters. The farm provides a focal point for Project research and for training members of the community and Fisheries personnel in pearl oyster culture techniques. It currently maintains seeded pearl oysters, from which pearls will be harvested in 2003, as well as oysters to be seeded for pearl production in 2003. Hatchery production will also support expansion of Project activities to other islands in Kiribati though the establishment of five satellite farms planned for 2003. Concurrent with these developments, a Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC) has been established which brings together representatives of relevant Ministries and other agencies. The POCC has been approved by the Government of Kiribati, to which it will provide advice relating to development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. A draft Development Plan has been formulated to provide a framework for this process. It addresses relevant technical and political issues and will be amended during the Project on the basis of Project outcomes. Project research in Tonga was successful in producing hatchery-reared blacklip pearl oyster juveniles, which will provide a basis for future research to develop suitable culture methods for juvenile and adult oysters.

The three major research objectives of this Project extension are:

Objective 1 - Development towards a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati.

Production of pearls at Abaiang atoll, Kiribati using hatchery-bred oysters;
Approximately 1,000 hatchery-reared oysters were seeded for pearl production in August 2001. Pearls will be harvested in August 2003 when a second seeding of 5,000 oysters will be conducted. Detailed reports of the seeding in 2001 are appended (Appendix 1 & 2).

Establish experimental cultured pearl farms at Abaiang atoll, Kiribati;
A second farm has been established in Abaiang lagoon; however, further discussions between MNRD, Abaiang Island Council and the Ministry of Home Affairs are required regarding community involvement in this farm. A second experimental farm will be established at Abaiang during 2003. The siting of this farm and the degree of community involvement will be determined through discussions between Abaiang Island Council, MNRD and the Ministry of Home Affairs

Examine the rate of spat collection of P. margaritifera at Kiritimati (Christmas) Island (Line Islands, Kiribati) and determine growth rates of spat/juveniles under culture conditions;
MNRD personnel based at Kiritimati Island have been trained in pearl culture and spat collection methods. Spat collection/culture equipment will be sent to the island in early 2003 to begin spat collection studies.

Conduct surveys of appropriate islands in the Gilbert group and Kiritimati Island to determine potential sites for future pearl culture;
Fisheries Assistants from Butaritari, Onotoa and Abemama have been trained in pearl culture techniques at Abaiang and have returned to their home islands. It was initially planned to send oyster spat to these islands in 2002 to assess growth rates, and for senior project staff to visit the islands to assess potential culture sites in the same year. However, these activities will now take place in 2003.

Facilitate formulation of a Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan for Kiribati;
A draft Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan has been completed via the Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC). The POCC has been approved by Cabinet and will provide advice to the Minister on the development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. The Plan will be amended during the Project on the basis of Project outcomes.

Objective 2 - Produce P. margaritifera spat through hatchery culture in Tonga.

Hatchery production of P. margaritifera spat in Tonga;
A hatchery run and training of two Fisheries staff was undertaken in Nov/Dec 2001. Approximately 300,000 spat were produced. Spat were divided between Vava'u and Sopu for nursery culture. A second hatchery run planned for late 2002 was postponed until 2003.

Assess growth and survival of oyster juveniles under culture conditions.
Spat transferred to Vava'u were all lost as a result of Cyclone Waka in early 2002. Approximately 1,350 hatchery reared spat from Sopu were used to establish nursery experiments at Sopu and Vava'u, to determine growth rates in different culture units.

Objective 3 - Produce up to date culture manual for P. margaritifera.

Obtain relevant literature relating to cultivation of P. margaritifera and research into pearl quality from French Polynesia and Cook Islands;
Literature relating to pearl quality and oyster cultivation has been gathered from Polynesia and other sources. This process is on-going. The information gathered will be used to update the Culture Manual (see below) which will be completed in 2003.

Revise/update the Culture Manual produced during FIS97/31.
New information relating to spat collection, spat identification, oyster cultivation and pearl quality has been written into the document and this process will continue as more relevant information comes to hand. The document will be completed by the end of 2003.

Year 6 (01/01/2003-31/12/2003)
The major highlight of project research during 2003 was the first harvest of cultured pearls at the Demonstration Pearl Farm at Abaiang in Kiribati. Continuing success in hatchery production of blacklip pearl oysters in Kiribati has supported expansion of project activities at the Demonstration Farm and at satellite farms on other islands in the Gilbert Group (Abemama, Butaritari, Onotoa). Spat collection trials have now been established at Kiritimati Island (Christmas Island). A hatchery run was conducted in Tonga in November/December 2003. Resulting spat will be graded in early 2004 and used for the establishment of experiments documenting growth rate and investigating optimal culture conditions in Tonga. Preliminary growth rate data for P. margaritifera spat produced in an earlier hatchery run in Tonga have been generated. Growth rates in Tonga compare well to growth rates recorded at other sites within the Pacific for P. margaritifera.
Progress against the three major research objectives of this project extension is summarised below.
1 Development towards a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati
The first harvest of cultured pearls from Kiribati took place at Abaiang in August 2003. About 200 pearls were harvested and a further 4000 oysters were grafted for pearl production. Appraisal of the pearls was undertaken by Mr. Rudy Zingg of Devino P/L (Sydney).
An experimental cultured pearl farm has been established at Tebunginako at Abaiang atoll. About 2000 pearl oysters are housed at the farm, which is maintained by three local people who have previously been trained in pearl oyster culture methods at the Demonstration Pearl Farm at Abaiang.
Spat collectors were first established at Kiritimati Island in July 2003. A second longline with other collectors was established in August 2003. Both longlines were deployed and are maintained by MNFRD staff based at Kiritimati. Some pearl oyster recruits were recorded from spat collectors towards the end of 2003. However, these are still to be positively identified as P. margaritifera.
Longlines were established at Abemama, Butaritari and Onotoa in mid-2003. Pearl oysters were deployed to Butaritari and Onotoa at the end of June 2003 and to Abemama in September 2003. Each of the three islands has a 60 m longline (Butaritari has 2 lines) holding between 4000 and 5000 oysters. Growth rates of oysters at Butaritari and Onotoa have been excellent. Oysters were deployed with a dorso-ventral height (shell length) of 5-8 mm. By the end of 2003, they had reached 50-60 mm in shell length.
A draft Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan was developed through the Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC) during 2003. The committee has been approved by Cabinet and will provide advice to the Minister on the development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. The plan will be amended during the project on the basis of project outcomes.
2 Production of P. margaritifera spat through hatchery culture in Tonga
The first hatchery run conducted in Tonga in 2001 resulted in a significant number of spat. Unfortunately, many of these died as a result of Cyclone Waka in 2002. Surviving spat were used for limited growth trials begun in 2002 which have provided data on the growth rates of P. margaritifera juveniles under culture conditions in Tonga. More extensive growth trials will be conducted in 2004 with spat resulting from the most recent hatchery run conducted in November/December 2003.
Hatchery production of P. margaritifera spat was conducted in Tonga in November/December 2003. Unfortunately, unusually low water temperatures (22-25C) resulted in an extended larval life. While P. margaritifera larvae would normally be expected to complete larval development in about 18-20 days, larvae were not removed from culture tanks into settlement tanks until Day 37. Nevertheless, the extended larval period provided good opportunity for training of local staff. Four local fisheries staff and a member of the Pearl Oyster Cooperative from Vava'u were trained in methods related to hatchery culture and feeding of pearl oysters. Approximately 50,000 larvae survived to be placed into settlement tanks, however, the number of spat produced will not be known until spat collectors are harvested in early 2004.
3 Production of up to date culture manual for P. margaritifera
New information relating to spat collection, spat identification, oyster cultivation and pearl quality has been written into the Culture Manual produced during the earlier project (FIS/1991/031). This process will continue as more relevant information comes to hand. The document will be completed by the end of 2004. Literature relating to pearl quality and oyster cultivation gathered from Polynesia and other sources with assistance from SPC, has also been included.

Overall Progress

Continuing success in the hatchery production of blacklip pearl oysters in Kiribati has supported expansion of Project activities and establishment of a 'demonstration pearl farm' at Abaiang which currently holds around 80,000 oysters. The farm provides a focal point for Project research and for training members of the community and Fisheries personnel in pearl oyster culture techniques. It currently maintains seeded pearl oysters, from which pearls will be harvested in 2003, as well as oysters to be seeded for pearl production in 2003. Hatchery production will also support expansion of Project activities to other islands in Kiribati though the establishment of five satellite farms planned for 2003. Concurrent with these developments, a Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC) has been established which brings together representatives of relevant Ministries and other agencies. The POCC has been approved by the Government of Kiribati, to which it will provide advice relating to development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. A draft Development Plan has been formulated to provide a framework for this process. It addresses relevant technical and political issues and will be amended during the Project on the basis of Project outcomes. Project research in Tonga was successful in producing hatchery-reared blacklip pearl oyster juveniles, which will provide a basis for future research to develop suitable culture methods for juvenile and adult oysters.

The three major research objectives of this Project extension are:

Objective 1 - Development towards a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati.

Production of pearls at Abaiang atoll, Kiribati using hatchery-bred oysters;
Approximately 1,000 hatchery-reared oysters were seeded for pearl production in August 2001. Pearls will be harvested in August 2003 when a second seeding of 5,000 oysters will be conducted. Detailed reports of the seeding in 2001 are appended (Appendix 1 & 2).

Establish experimental cultured pearl farms at Abaiang atoll, Kiribati;
A second farm has been established in Abaiang lagoon; however, further discussions between MNRD, Abaiang Island Council and the Ministry of Home Affairs are required regarding community involvement in this farm. A second experimental farm will be established at Abaiang during 2003. The siting of this farm and the degree of community involvement will be determined through discussions between Abaiang Island Council, MNRD and the Ministry of Home Affairs

Examine the rate of spat collection of P. margaritifera at Kiritimati (Christmas) Island (Line Islands, Kiribati) and determine growth rates of spat/juveniles under culture conditions;
MNRD personnel based at Kiritimati Island have been trained in pearl culture and spat collection methods. Spat collection/culture equipment will be sent to the island in early 2003 to begin spat collection studies.

Conduct surveys of appropriate islands in the Gilbert group and Kiritimati Island to determine potential sites for future pearl culture;
Fisheries Assistants from Butaritari, Onotoa and Abemama have been trained in pearl culture techniques at Abaiang and have returned to their home islands. It was initially planned to send oyster spat to these islands in 2002 to assess growth rates, and for senior project staff to visit the islands to assess potential culture sites in the same year. However, these activities will now take place in 2003.

Facilitate formulation of a Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan for Kiribati;
A draft Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan has been completed via the Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC). The POCC has been approved by Cabinet and will provide advice to the Minister on the development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. The Plan will be amended during the Project on the basis of Project outcomes.

Objective 2 - Produce P. margaritifera spat through hatchery culture in Tonga.

Hatchery production of P. margaritifera spat in Tonga;
A hatchery run and training of two Fisheries staff was undertaken in Nov/Dec 2001. Approximately 300,000 spat were produced. Spat were divided between Vava'u and Sopu for nursery culture. A second hatchery run planned for late 2002 was postponed until 2003.

Assess growth and survival of oyster juveniles under culture conditions.
Spat transferred to Vava'u were all lost as a result of Cyclone Waka in early 2002. Approximately 1,350 hatchery reared spat from Sopu were used to establish nursery experiments at Sopu and Vava'u, to determine growth rates in different culture units.

Objective 3 - Produce up to date culture manual for P. margaritifera.

Obtain relevant literature relating to cultivation of P. margaritifera and research into pearl quality from French Polynesia and Cook Islands;
Literature relating to pearl quality and oyster cultivation has been gathered from Polynesia and other sources. This process is on-going. The information gathered will be used to update the Culture Manual (see below) which will be completed in 2003.

Revise/update the Culture Manual produced during FIS97/31.
New information relating to spat collection, spat identification, oyster cultivation and pearl quality has been written into the document and this process will continue as more relevant information comes to hand. The document will be completed by the end of 2003.

Overall Progress

Continuing success in the hatchery production of blacklip pearl oysters in Kiribati has supported expansion of Project activities and establishment of a 'demonstration pearl farm' at Abaiang which currently holds around 80,000 oysters. The farm provides a focal point for Project research and for training members of the community and Fisheries personnel in pearl oyster culture techniques. It currently maintains seeded pearl oysters, from which pearls will be harvested in 2003, as well as oysters to be seeded for pearl production in 2003. Hatchery production will also support expansion of Project activities to other islands in Kiribati though the establishment of five satellite farms planned for 2003. Concurrent with these developments, a Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC) has been established which brings together representatives of relevant Ministries and other agencies. The POCC has been approved by the Government of Kiribati, to which it will provide advice relating to development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. A draft Development Plan has been formulated to provide a framework for this process. It addresses relevant technical and political issues and will be amended during the Project on the basis of Project outcomes. Project research in Tonga was successful in producing hatchery-reared blacklip pearl oyster juveniles, which will provide a basis for future research to develop suitable culture methods for juvenile and adult oysters.

The three major research objectives of this Project extension are:

Objective 1 - Development towards a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati.

Production of pearls at Abaiang atoll, Kiribati using hatchery-bred oysters;
Approximately 1,000 hatchery-reared oysters were seeded for pearl production in August 2001. Pearls will be harvested in August 2003 when a second seeding of 5,000 oysters will be conducted. Detailed reports of the seeding in 2001 are appended (Appendix 1 & 2).

Establish experimental cultured pearl farms at Abaiang atoll, Kiribati;
A second farm has been established in Abaiang lagoon; however, further discussions between MNRD, Abaiang Island Council and the Ministry of Home Affairs are required regarding community involvement in this farm. A second experimental farm will be established at Abaiang during 2003. The siting of this farm and the degree of community involvement will be determined through discussions between Abaiang Island Council, MNRD and the Ministry of Home Affairs

Examine the rate of spat collection of P. margaritifera at Kiritimati (Christmas) Island (Line Islands, Kiribati) and determine growth rates of spat/juveniles under culture conditions;
MNRD personnel based at Kiritimati Island have been trained in pearl culture and spat collection methods. Spat collection/culture equipment will be sent to the island in early 2003 to begin spat collection studies.

Conduct surveys of appropriate islands in the Gilbert group and Kiritimati Island to determine potential sites for future pearl culture;
Fisheries Assistants from Butaritari, Onotoa and Abemama have been trained in pearl culture techniques at Abaiang and have returned to their home islands. It was initially planned to send oyster spat to these islands in 2002 to assess growth rates, and for senior project staff to visit the islands to assess potential culture sites in the same year. However, these activities will now take place in 2003.

Facilitate formulation of a Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan for Kiribati;
A draft Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan has been completed via the Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC). The POCC has been approved by Cabinet and will provide advice to the Minister on the development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. The Plan will be amended during the Project on the basis of Project outcomes.

Objective 2 - Produce P. margaritifera spat through hatchery culture in Tonga.

Hatchery production of P. margaritifera spat in Tonga;
A hatchery run and training of two Fisheries staff was undertaken in Nov/Dec 2001. Approximately 300,000 spat were produced. Spat were divided between Vava'u and Sopu for nursery culture. A second hatchery run planned for late 2002 was postponed until 2003.

Assess growth and survival of oyster juveniles under culture conditions.
Spat transferred to Vava'u were all lost as a result of Cyclone Waka in early 2002. Approximately 1,350 hatchery reared spat from Sopu were used to establish nursery experiments at Sopu and Vava'u, to determine growth rates in different culture units.

Objective 3 - Produce up to date culture manual for P. margaritifera.

Obtain relevant literature relating to cultivation of P. margaritifera and research into pearl quality from French Polynesia and Cook Islands;
Literature relating to pearl quality and oyster cultivation has been gathered from Polynesia and other sources. This process is on-going. The information gathered will be used to update the Culture Manual (see below) which will be completed in 2003.

Revise/update the Culture Manual produced during FIS97/31.
New information relating to spat collection, spat identification, oyster cultivation and pearl quality has been written into the document and this process will continue as more relevant information comes to hand. The document will be completed by the end of 2003.

Year 6 (01/01/2003-31/12/2003)
The major highlight of project research during 2003 was the first harvest of cultured pearls at the Demonstration Pearl Farm at Abaiang in Kiribati. Continuing success in hatchery production of blacklip pearl oysters in Kiribati has supported expansion of project activities at the Demonstration Farm and at satellite farms on other islands in the Gilbert Group (Abemama, Butaritari, Onotoa). Spat collection trials have now been established at Kiritimati Island (Christmas Island). A hatchery run was conducted in Tonga in November/December 2003. Resulting spat will be graded in early 2004 and used for the establishment of experiments documenting growth rate and investigating optimal culture conditions in Tonga. Preliminary growth rate data for P. margaritifera spat produced in an earlier hatchery run in Tonga have been generated. Growth rates in Tonga compare well to growth rates recorded at other sites within the Pacific for P. margaritifera.
Progress against the three major research objectives of this project extension is summarised below.
1 Development towards a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati
The first harvest of cultured pearls from Kiribati took place at Abaiang in August 2003. About 200 pearls were harvested and a further 4000 oysters were grafted for pearl production. Appraisal of the pearls was undertaken by Mr. Rudy Zingg of Devino P/L (Sydney).
An experimental cultured pearl farm has been established at Tebunginako at Abaiang atoll. About 2000 pearl oysters are housed at the farm, which is maintained by three local people who have previously been trained in pearl oyster culture methods at the Demonstration Pearl Farm at Abaiang.
Spat collectors were first established at Kiritimati Island in July 2003. A second longline with other collectors was established in August 2003. Both longlines were deployed and are maintained by MNFRD staff based at Kiritimati. Some pearl oyster recruits were recorded from spat collectors towards the end of 2003. However, these are still to be positively identified as P. margaritifera.
Longlines were established at Abemama, Butaritari and Onotoa in mid-2003. Pearl oysters were deployed to Butaritari and Onotoa at the end of June 2003 and to Abemama in September 2003. Each of the three islands has a 60 m longline (Butaritari has 2 lines) holding between 4000 and 5000 oysters. Growth rates of oysters at Butaritari and Onotoa have been excellent. Oysters were deployed with a dorso-ventral height (shell length) of 5-8 mm. By the end of 2003, they had reached 50-60 mm in shell length.
A draft Cultured Pearl Industry Management and Development Plan was developed through the Pearl Oyster Coordinating Committee (POCC) during 2003. The committee has been approved by Cabinet and will provide advice to the Minister on the development of a cultured pearl industry in Kiribati. The plan will be amended during the project on the basis of project outcomes.
2 Production of P. margaritifera spat through hatchery culture in Tonga
The first hatchery run conducted in Tonga in 2001 resulted in a significant number of spat. Unfortunately, many of these died as a result of Cyclone Waka in 2002. Surviving spat were used for limited growth trials begun in 2002 which have provided data on the growth rates of P. margaritifera juveniles under culture conditions in Tonga. More extensive growth trials will be conducted in 2004 with spat resulting from the most recent hatchery run conducted in November/December 2003.
Hatchery production of P. margaritifera spat was conducted in Tonga in November/December 2003. Unfortunately, unusually low water temperatures (22-25C) resulted in an extended larval life. While P. margaritifera larvae would normally be expected to complete larval development in about 18-20 days, larvae were not removed from culture tanks into settlement tanks until Day 37. Nevertheless, the extended larval period provided good opportunity for training of local staff. Four local fisheries staff and a member of the Pearl Oyster Cooperative from Vava'u were trained in methods related to hatchery culture and feeding of pearl oysters. Approximately 50,000 larvae survived to be placed into settlement tanks, however, the number of spat produced will not be known until spat collectors are harvested in early 2004.
3 Production of up to date culture manual for P. margaritifera
New information relating to spat collection, spat identification, oyster cultivation and pearl quality has been written into the Culture Manual produced during the earlier project (FIS/1991/031). This process will continue as more relevant information comes to hand. The document will be completed by the end of 2004. Literature relating to pearl quality and oyster cultivation gathered from Polynesia and other sources with assistance from SPC, has also been included.