Pearl culture and pollution

[Taylor]

Hi all, I heard a pithy remark from a commentator recently. He claimed every time he went to China, the folks spoke (English) with more ease and breathed with more difficulty. He was speaking to the general point of why China would not realize its economic promise in the 21st century, but I was wondering specifically about pearl culture. From those of you who live there or visit often, is the pollution already a big threat to pearl production? Are the rural areas at risk as well?

 

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Taylor,

I think that freshwater pearl culture is the most in danger not just because of industrial pollution but also from iffy water management should, or rather as soon as, the Three Gorges Project come about. Contrary to common perception, most Chinese freshwater mussels used in perliculture are extremely sensitive to pollution (one exception is anodonta woodiana) and the marine mussels will quickly follow suit. In Japan it went quite similarly where pollution and private as well as industrial freshwater use and pollution killed off the Lake Biwa operations just after they reached their peak output and quality. And in comparison to China, the Japanese were outright treehuggers at least in terms of environmental protection. Maybe Brazil will take perliculture up from there.

Zeide

 

[MABE BRAZIL]

Hi Zeide,
I hope you are right. Here many of our rivers are polluted, but thankgodness we have a lot of river pure and clean. My activities will be realise in tanks, so I can get more control over the environmental parameters (mainly, pH and hardness).

Regards

Ricardo Cunha Lima

 

[purepearls]

Yes, hopefully the population in those regions will see this as a wake-up call! The pollution is definitely going to effect successful pearl harvests if it doesn't turn around.

 

[Caitlin]

My activities will be realise in tanks

Hi Richard

What size tanks? Will you have pumps and filters? Can you share some details?

Thanks

 

[MABE BRAZIL]

Hi Caitlin,
I do not use any kind of filter, because they entrapped the microalgae and need a lot of maintenance. What i do is let some water flow, entering by the upper side and leaving by the bottom of the tanks. I use pumps only to feed the animals and to provide some oxigen and/or mixture the water, so the microalgae are keeping floating. The mussels are suspended and/or buried. I do not know yet what is the better treatment for mussel growth or pearl formation, so I keep both.
The tanks are fertilized before received the mussels, and then monitored to keep a good cell concentration. My only problem is with the hardness....
regards

Ricardo Cunha lima

 

[Caitlin]

HI Richard
Thanks for your fast answer. How big are the tanks?
I want to start a backyard pond or tank and grow some mussels on my back acre. What do you think is the smallest size that will keep mussels happy?

 

[MABE BRAZIL]

Hi Caitlin,
at the I have keeped around 200 mussel suspended in to a 1000 L tank, easy. I change water each 15-20 days. Outside the lab, the tanks are larger (24 m2, 50 m2 and 100 m2), and the circulation is open (continuous water flow). So I think it is very possible to you culture your home made pearl. Be carefull, the mussels eat very much. And I do not know if you need a licence for raising this animals in your country. If you need mopre information feel free to contact me.
regards
Ricardo Cunha Lima

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Richard
Thanks for the info. What do you feed your guys?

As for type of I mussels could grow, I am researching it. I want to grow something American.

 

[MABE BRAZIL]

Caitlin,
I feed my pets with 4 microalgae species, but in your case, I think you could fertilize your pond and feed them with everything that grow in there. Raise them suspended, is more easy and you could see your animals every time you want. If you wnat to reproduce them naturally, leave some fishes in the pond, you will surprise after 1-2 years how many mussels you will have on the substrate.

Ricardo Cunha Lima

 

[Caitlin]

HI Richard
Thanks for the info. I understand "most" mussels have their own kind of fish needed for the glochidia stage- a larval stage when they leave home and go find a new place to live. In a small pond, say a bout 2,000 gallons- (7-8k liters) would the glochidia have to have the fish to attach to, or could they just float around until they land somewhere else in the pond?

The rest of this post is just comments in general about domestic mussel-keeping. I hope Richard and others will amplify as needed.

Actually I went looking on the web and here is a lesson plan for kids to learn a lot about mussels in a brief time.

I love fish and tanks and small ponds and my hubby and I have had one or another for the last 31 years. We try to get lots of critters into the ecology of the pond, and that is a fun story of its own- but we haven't tried introducing mussels into a pond, yet.

I would like raising mussels for fun (and recognition at the county fair, like my prized Araucana hen's eggs), become possible, even common, in backyard ponds. I can see tiny mussels, with brand new shells, available to buy in pet stores and planting them in the gravel of a tank or outdoor pond. They would be better than catfish for cleaning up the pond's organic detritus and would add a lot of fun to the mix of critters in and around such an environment.

As many people may have noticed, I comb the internet for stories of freshwater mussels and how they grow and I post them. I have found that many individual states have written about their own local mussels, and I have collected these articles and linked them, here. They are available in the Pearl Resouces section of this forum.

Now that we know what beauty freshwater pearls can reach, we should be more interested to learn about the wonderful little mollusks that produce them. Americans have for the most part forgotten that freshwater pearls growing in mussels were common over vast tracts of the United States for centuries. It was a hobby, for decades, for American families to go out on a Sunday and look for pearls in local rivers. Now, with so much of the natural environment affecting so many kinds of mussels, many species have become endangered in the wild and Americans have forgotten about mussels.

So I think it would be great to find species of mussels who flourish in ponds and tanks. Of course, once mussel-keeping and raising becomes an American pastime again, many will want to learn how to induce pearls.

 

[MABE BRAZIL]

HI Richard
Thanks for the info. I understand "most" mussels have their own kind of fish needed for the glochidia stage- a larval stage when they leave home and go find a new place to live. In a small pond, say a bout 2,000 gallons- (7-8k liters) would the glochidia have to have the fish to attach to, or could they just float around until they land somewhere else in the pond?


Hi Caitlin,
during this larval stage glochidia must parasitize the fish, because they feed on fish blood, and/or skin. Tell me which species do you want to raise.
regards
Ricardo Cunha Lima

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Richard
I want to raise mussels that use fish that will be happy living in a tank. Mussels that are legal to buy and transport. Something not endangered. Something with a purple lining to the shell....... the last requirement is the least important.

What mussels (and fish) do you think would work in a tank situation?