Arafura in Voluntary Administration

It is something I discussed more than a year ago. The end may be very near for Arafura.
Arafura in Voluntary Administration

Not Irritating

Submitted by Buck Nacre

Way back when, someone whose identity is lost to pearling history declared that a natural pearl forms when foreign matter invades a shelled mollusk’s soft tissue, and the mollusk progressively coats the invader with shell material to sooth the irritation it causes. That explanation has been repeated so often, it’s taken as true. But both common sense and close analysis demonstrate it’s false.

First, common sense: If soothing irritation were the mollusk’s purpose in coating the foreign matter with shell material, why would it continue coating once enough layers were applied to give the irritant a smooth surface?

Second, close analysis: Foreign matter gets inside the mollusk and either lodges in the mantle tissue where the epithelial cells that produce shell material are, or it picks up epithelial cells on its way to settling somewhere else in the mollusk’s soft body. Whether in the mantle or elsewhere, the epithelial cells continue doing what they’re genetically programmed to do -- produce shell material. But rather than continuing to build a shell, the cells form a pearl sac and create a pearl that encapsulates the invader. A cultured pearl with a bead as its core is produced by adapting this process.

For more detail, see “Pearl Production” by Joseph Taylor and Elisabeth Strack in The Pearl Oyster, edited by Paul Southgate and John Lucas, and published by Elsevier.

Threats we ought not ignore

Carbon dioxide is quite the buzz phrase. Along with methane, CFCs and a host of other noxious gasses, many believe carbon dioxide is causing global warming whilst nations sit on their arses ignoring tomorrow. The threat to the pearl industry is immense.

As carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, the hydrogen ion concentration increases. This decreases the pH, resulting in a nasty consequence known as acidification. Ocean acidification has dire consequences for calcifying organisms whose skeletal material is built of calcium carbonate. These organisms include corals, echinoderms and, of course, molluscs with shells.

"Ocean acidification is one of the biggest threats to our marine environment," said Miyoko Sakashita, a senior attorney at Center for Biological Diversity. This EPA action "really gave the green light to using the Clean Water Act to address ocean acidification," she said.

According to a recently published report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, about 40,000 bodies of water are currently listed nationwide as impaired.

New Potential with UV-Vis Spectroscopy

I received a post from my friend Dr Gustaf Mamangkey, which I thought to share. Dr Mamangkey is head of the Marine Science Study Program at Sam Ratulangi University in Indonesia.

His thesis is published and is quite a read, but the abstract is thorough.

Something all might find interesting is his latest publication detailing his experimentation with UV-Vis spectroscopy and how it can be used to determine and describe different pearl colors, origin, treatments and enhancements, and as a quantitative measure of pearl lustre.

Pearl Prices on the Rise

As the world economy fluctuates to agree or disagree with dire predictions, one thing is certain: pearl prices are on the rise. While this is welcome news for the world’s producers, beleaguered wholesalers and retailers are bracing for another shot at the bottom line.

As Chinese freshwater pearls are sold by weight, producers have spent much of the past few years focusing on sizable, more profitable production, largely ignoring the smaller range of pearl. This has lead to a sharp decline in the availability of smaller Chinese pearls, 7mm and below. Combining this shortage with the markedly increased labour costs and the labour-intensive job of processing small pearls is leading to drastically higher prices, as high as 200% greater according to a report in JNA.

The 49th Robert Wan Tahiti Perles Auction attracted a total of 94 buyers, 50 of whom purchased a total of 166 of the 468 available lots. While many lots remained unsold, the average selling price reached a remarkable €39 per momme, more than 35% higher than September 2009. Following the results of the auction, producer Robert Wan proclaimed that “the worst is behind us now, and the September 2010 auction will deliver better results.”

Not to be outdone, the Third Gerdau Pearl Auction (formerly known as The Paspaley Pearl Auctions) fetched US$7.91 million, up 36.14% compared with September 2009, with average per momme prices increasing a full 34%. Of the 100 attending buyers, 72 made successful bids, purchasing 211 lots comprising 110,028 pearls.

According to Mr Leung Sik Wah, director of Cogent Trading Co Ltd, average per pearl prices were up 15% year over year. He is now confident pearl farmers will have the ability to maintain their businesses.

Conspicuous Consumption

by Perlemeister

Not so sure I feel so sorry for our pearl industry anymore, after running into a very vocal and verbal anti-pearl pugilist at a pearl counter a few weeks ago who said to me when I told him who I was and what I did: “Why would anyone waste their money on crap like this?” (he was looking at Chinese freshwater pearl offerings). He went on to lambaste the incredible volumes pumping out of China and flooding the world market, cheapening the cost and image of pearls.

I segued into asking about Australian or Tahitian pearls. “It’s the same thing,” he said. “All about conspicuous consumption. Greed on the producers’ part, greed on the dealers’ part, greed on the buyers’ part. That’s why the business is going into the tank.”

“And here in America, it’s the worst,” he went on. Look at our economy. Look at out leadership.” And he told me about our President’s recent entourage to London, telling me to Google the trip. So I did, and was suitably appalled.

It seems that Our Exalted Leader showed up at the G-20 summit in London with everything but the proverbial kitchen sink, arriving in all pomp and primp with 500 staff, including 200 Secret Service agents, a team of six doctors, the White House chef and kitchen staff with the president’s very own food and water... along with 35 vehicles, four speechwriters, 12 teleprompters, the presidential helicopter (Marine One), and a fleet of identical decoys to ferry him about town. Included in all the vehicle array was the presidential limousine which is reinforced with ceramic and titanium armor, carries tear gas cannon, night vision devices, its own oxygen, and is resistant to chemical and radiation attack.... “sort of a mobile panic room,” a tabloid wit penned. Not to mention its usual retinue of Rayban-clad, earphoned suits carrying hidden flamethrowers, Uzis and RPGs.

That’s the trouble these days. No fiscal discipline. Everyone’s out to get as much bakeesh as possible in the shortest possible time. Not one thought but trying to screw the next person out of as much as possible... even worse when you’re first in line at the trough,” my antagonist concluded.

These thoughts coalesced when I read a recent news article about Nick Paspaley planning a pearl auction next year in the Emirates for his primary clients in Dubai. “Good God,” I thought. “Has he run out of customers in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and the States?”

“Perhaps folks are coming around to their senses and stopping buying incredibly expensive baubles to hang around their necks,” my anti-pearling acquaintance said to me when I passed that latest tidbit on to him. “Someday those crazy sheiks will come to that conclusion, too,” he added. “When they finally run out of oil and when we stop buying that black stuff.”

Pearls and Oil

Of late, we’ve heard the constant news ramblings of the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the disastrous effects this has had on the livelihood of those living on the gulf coast of the USA. One must also not forget the loss of stock value of BP, which affects thousands of shareholders and retirees around the world. Whilst this spill has little to no impact on the pearl industry due to locality, this is not the only spill affecting the world today.

Whilst drilling a second well on the Montara offshore oil platform in the Timor Sea off Western Australia on August 21st, 2009, the oil platform blew out, spewing natural gas, condensate and oil into the sea. Much like the plans in the gulf, relief wells were the ultimate solution, which took nearly eight weeks to complete.

This spill, widely ignored by and underreported by the global media, dealt a near-crippling blow to many fishing and pearling operations in several districts of Indonesia. A Mr Mustafa, chairman of a local guild of traditional Timor Sea fisherman, reported that by only September, 6,000 pearl oysters had perished at a loss of 6 billion Rp – another blow to the beleaguered Indonesian industry.

As humanity continues to thirst for the intoxication and addicting, rotting remains of civilisations past, the planet will continue to pay the price.