| It will be more difficult this time, the background is different.
China was known for flooding the market with cheap freshwater pearls. Australia is known for its expensive south sea pearls.
Australians are not ready to produce akoyas in large quantities yet, they are not a threat at this stage. I think they will focus on the domestic market in the coming years. Plus, the investors on this projects are Japanese ...probably looking at cleaner alternatives to their increasingly polluted bays.
There is another interesting endeavour to watch at the other end of the country in the Abrolhos islands and in Shark Bay: cultured black pearls with indigenous P. margaritifera. |