THE establishment of a pearl farm is expected to benefit the villagers on the island in terms of earning money.
Civa Fiji Pearls Ltd has partnered with the University of the Sunshine Coast to establish the half-pearl farm in Qamea with the first harvest expected next year.
Company owner and manager Claude Prevost said they expected to harvest 2500 half-pearls a year.
A statement from the company said the research was part of a collaborative project between Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Ministry of Fisheries to support sustainable development of a pearl and pearl-shell handicraft sector in Fiji.
“Community collection of juvenile oysters generates income for the community and provides improved supply of oysters to Fiji’s round pearl farms,” said Professor Paul Southgate from University of the Sunshine Coast and project leader for the ACIAR project.
“So far, successful collection and sale of juvenile oysters has occurred at more than 15 communities across Fiji. These communities can use some of the oysters they collect to produce half-pearls for further income generation,” he said.
According to Civa Fiji Pearls, the ACIAR project has so far assisted a number of communities across Fiji to produce half-pearls, including the Raviravi Ladies Group, Natuvu Ladies Group, Ravita Ladies Group and Ratu Nemani (Vanua Levu), and the Namarai Youth Group (Viti Levu).
Meanwhile, the new farm at Qamea will be the sixth half-pearl farm established during the project and the first in Taveuni.
