Torres Strait Island: Friday Island – Kazu Pearl Farm
About 40 years ago, a Japanese entrepreneur came here with the idea of establishing a state of the art pearl farm in the ideal conditions of tropical calm waters and top-notch Japanese know-how and technology and expertise. Fast forward to today, and Mr Kazu is still making perfect pearls, although he is about to retire as he can no longer compete against much cheaper Southeast Asian pearl makers. But a visit to the farm is a must! I have visited three pearl farms before in French Polynesia (black pearls over there), so this was very interesting to see how white and yellow pearls are grown. First, you are treated to a 7-course Japanese-style lunch with sushi, sashimi, tempura – all using local reef fish – totally spectacular and delicious. Once everyone is stuffed, the group goes over to the demonstration shed, where Mr Kazu explains the entire pearl business. Natural pearls are typically small, asymmetrical and not pretty; so to produce expensive large round pearls requires an elaborate multi-year approach. First, adult pearls are selected for implantation based on the color of their inner shell – the ones with pure white and more shine are selected. Then, a real surgical procedure is performed and pearls are implanted with a small round bead made from Mississippi River clam shell (same consistency as a pearl), whereby the bead and a piece of inner mantle from a donor pearl are grafted into the gonad (reproductive organ) of a recipient pearl. It’s a real surgery with instruments, and cutting, and “patient health” monitoring. Once implanted, the pearls are hung in the water and periodically rotated and examined to make sure the pearl material is growing around the implanted bead evenly. Pearls are harvested after around 2 years. Pearl shells that produced perfectly round pearl are used for more implantations, while those that produced misshapen or deformed pearls are discarded. It’s all a very labor intensive and complicated business to make a really perfect pearl!
