[CortezPearls]

Pollution is a problem everywhere there are Humans. Rivers and lakes are more prone to disastrous pollution problems than the ocean (mainly because of the size and hidrodynamics) but at the present rate of destruction of ecosystems...we might only have a couple more decades of pearl production, then nothing.

Some Pearl Industries (remember that we have the: (1) Farmers, (2) Processors, (3) Jewlers and (4) Retailers, and (5) Middle-men, this is an Industry) are environmentally sensitive, but others are quite the opposite. I heard of a friend that said that noxious dyes were being poured into a river in China...dirty -no longer useful- dyes that were used to artificially color pearls. Eventually these pollutants end up in the ocean and then it becomes no longer a "local" problem, but everyones: pollution does not care about race, language, political standing point nor religion and will affect all of us and the newer generations.

That is one of the reason some of us think that the Jewelry Industry should do its part and clean up it act, and the Fair Trade initiative and protocols are a part of a possible solution.

Remember that if you are not part of the solution, then you are a part of the problem.