[Caitlin]

This story is 4 years old, but it is great reading. Any one have an update?
http://www.tamu.edu/univrel/aggiedai.../060502-5.html
Young Inventor Seeks To Boost Domestic Cultured Pearl Industry

COLLEGE STATION - A young Texas entrepreneur thinks the state's native mussels can spawn a domestic cultured pearl industry to rival Asia's.

Stephan Tower, a master's degree student in Texas A&M University's Department of Wildlife Fisheries Sciences, devised a plan to produce cultured pearls by implanting bits of crushed shell into mussels found in Texas lakes, streams and farm tanks.

The Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship (CNVE), part of the Department of Management at the Mays College and Graduate School of Business, thought Tower's idea was so good they awarded him $1,000 as one of the winners of this semester's "Business Idea Competition," and Center Director Albert Cannella has been helping him line up possible venture capital sources to investigate.

"The possibility of creating a pearl-producing nation is not a dream -- it is a reality," said Tower. "The pearls of Texas have long been a treasured asset to North America, with their history stemming from the time Spanish explorers arrived in the New World. North America boasts approximately 360 more species of freshwater mussels than does any other region, which leads me to believe that by using native freshwater mussels, we can develop a new pearl-culturing industry here in the Southern states."

Currently and historically, the southern states of America have been exporting freshwater mussel shell to countries such as Japan and Australia. The shell is used to create nuclei for the production of cultured pearls, which are then sold at an inflated price back to the U.S. Tower wants to keep the shell at home in Texas by developing pearl farms using aquaculture techniques he has perfected with the help of Don Shephard, a retired pathologist.

"Our techniques are successful because we treat the mussels like livestock," Tower said. "If treated carefully, our mussels should have an 80 percent survivability rate, so that we can use them again and again, with each successive pearl being larger.

"Although a mussel can produce a pearl in as little as 9 months to a year, quality pearls take up to two years to mature, but the wait is worth it in terms of size, color and luster," he observed. "Texas mussels have the ability to produce pearls as large as 25 mm, with a matched set of 18 such pearls as profitable as $800,000 retail. Additionally, our native mussels produce pearls in a variety of natural colors including salmon-pink, purple, chocolate, and pearly white, increasing retail value even more."

Tower envisions mussel farms that simulate natural environments, with 10 to 20 acres underwater, holding from 70,000 to 150,000 creatures. Farmers might cultivate mussels already living in streams or ponds on their property, or they might bring them in from area rivers. (Texas law allows mussel divers to take up to 140 pounds per day of mussels larger than four inches in diameter.)

"One essential reason for beginning such a venture is to protect our natural species by continuing to reuse the mussels in the hope of creating a plethora of pearls," Tower explained. "In order to keep the mussels intact, the implantation of the nuclei into the mussel as well as the harvesting of the mature pearls would be conducted by trained technicians. By protecting the mussels, we are also creating an economically viable product that is no longer assassinated for its parts but reused for America's gain."

Pearl farming is not Tower's first entrepreneurial venture. After graduating with his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M in 1997, he established and managed Innovative Design & Construction, a construction company specializing in polystyrene and steel-frame home building. While pursuing his master's degree, Tower also invented a unique "hookah" system specifically designed to assist his underwater excursions as he hunted for freshwater mussels, which cost him one-third less than purchasing a system outright.

Tower credits his entrepreneurial success to his Aggie education and to his parents.

"My father and mother escaped from Romania when it was still under Communist rule," Tower said. "They came to this country and have been blessed with a strong family and economic success.

"My parents taught me to believe that anything is possible - and Dr. Cannella and the management faculty have helped me acquire the business acumen to achieve those entrepreneurial dreams."

Contact: Albert Cannella, 979-845-0329, acannella@cgsb.tamu.edu;
Stephan Tower, idc4u@hotmail.com.

6/5/02



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[jshepherd]

I wonder why his idea never took off... Are you out there anywhere Mr. Tower?