economic viability

[cassandra]

hello

i am thinking of seting up a pearl farm but i would like to know somethings before i invest all my money into it.
firstly i would like to know about the economic viability. i would like to know how much is the industry worth and how much does it cost to establish a farm?
i would also like to know the negetive environmental effects and the farmers response to these. i live in australia and i was also wondering the future of the pearl industry in australia. and what are the environmental requirements (climate, sea temp, tides etc)
thank you

[jshepherd]

Cassandra,

That can be an extremely difficult question to answer. There are so many issues in Australia - the quota system, the government, El Nino... The economic vialbility can be poor for smaller farms with a single quota, and very good for larger farms. I would suggest taking a tour of one in Australia and learning as much as you can there first.
Here is a link for you:
Socio-economics of pearl culture:
Industry changes and comparisons focussing on Australia and French Polynesia
C.A. Tisdell1 and Bernard Poirine2
http://www.spc.org.nc/coastfish/News...01-Tisdell.htm

PS
This article has a lot of good information, but keep in mind that it is outdated by more than 5 years. That is a long time in the current market.

[pearltime]

Here is a site with some interesting information on conditions needed for pearl farming in India. Granted it's a different area but it may have some worthwile information.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/...726E06.htm#ch6