| You have two species of Atlantic Pearl Oysters in Florida: Pinctada imbricata & Pteria colymbus.
Both species are of small size (Akoya-sized) and would produce pearls in the 6-10 mm size range, mainly in light (Akoya-like) colors...I would not dare produce these pearls and have them compete with Chinese-Japanese Akoyas: you could produce fine quality pearls, but would be more expensive and -to be honest- most people cannot tell the difference between a high a low quality pearl.
Still, you can have a grand marketing campaign in order to help set them apart from other pearls...it could work, and technically it is quite possible to use both species. You should ALWAYS use the Local Species...thus avoiding the spread of pathogens and helping to conserve our planet's fragile ecosystems.
Douglas McLaurin |