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This particular visit to Takaroa was scheduled for a few reasons. One of which I am not allowed to yet talk about, but aside from that, we had our harvest and seeing planned and 2 weeks ago marked the end of our mollusk collection period. Collection season happens during the warm season and typically lasts for about 2 months. Each collection period is extremely important in that mollusks in French Polynesia are not bred in a hatchery and are all completely caught in the wild. One of the reasons why we choose to work in Takaroa is the fact that they are the hub of all mollusk production for Tuamotu. Over 80% of all mollusks in this major pearl culturing archipelago come from Takaroa. This year, marked an extremely critical year for collections as we begun our season in January. Last year, due to the “La Nina” weather temperature, water temperatures were at much warmer levels than usual. I know that we talk about warmer water being one of the causes for nacre secretion in the mollusk, however, this warmer temperature caused for a large decrease in the amount of mollusks collected. How much? Over 60% from the previous year! That being said, due to the large decrease last year, this collection period for 2012 became much more important. Knowing the results from last year and forecasting the temperatures this year, we more than doubled our investment and efforts for mollusk collection this year. The results? As we closed the season, water temperatures remained high causing for a repeat of last years collection period meaning, we are again about 60% short of the typical amount of mollusks collected. To say that there is an urgency for our collections is an under statement. Since temperatures are still high, we have decided to put more lines out in an effort to catch more mollusks, which is not typical for Takaroa or any other island in French Polynesia.
We often times talk about different reasons for shortages in the pearl market. One of the reasons we have heard lately is the fact that the many farms have closed down and current farmers are heavily cutting back production in an effort to focus on fewer pieces and higher quality. However, these types of shortages are created by the farmers and are typically short- term fixes. What we are currently looking at is a much longer term shortage. The shortage of mollusks over the last 2 years will affect the pearl market for many years to come and is the type of shortage where we have absolutely no control over. This type of shortage will affect not only future culturing, but also current culturing. The mollusks collected from last years period will be ready for culturing next year and will be used up to 3 times with a year and a half culturing time each time. This shortage will mean fewer pearls starting in 2014 and beyond. The current production will surely be affected by these warmer waters as pearl production depends on both warm and cooler waters to avoid shocking the mollusk.
How severe is this mollusk shortage? It is severe enough that many of the farmers who depend on natural mollusk collection as their means to produce pearls and mother of pearl items are now trying to buy mollusks from other collectors. I have even heard farmers are resorting to buying mollusks that are rejected from other collectors as well as from the bottom of the sea, which is a very bad idea.
These conditions are not out of the ordinary in other parts of the world. Since 2008,Indonesia, which is the largest producer of South Sea pearls, has also been facing warmer water temperatures. The main difference is, the lack of mollusks in this area is now affecting the number of pearls in high quality reaching the marketplace as of the most current harvests.
The point I want to make here is that we are seeing prices of pearls at some of the lowest prices we have ever seen. In- fact, the prices for Tahitian pearls are very close to the costs that it takes the farmers to produce them, if not lower in many cases. The difficulty of this upcoming shortage is the fact that there is nothing we can do to help boost supply of these mollusks. Knowing that these shortages are coming or already here, take advantage of these prices as they will not be here to stay!
Kwan Collections 