|
TKI Hot Topics focus on an interesting and topical subject, made up of interviews
with experts and a collection of online resources.
Paua pearls
| Mick Norton is an entrepreneur who has a vision to farm paua pearls and establish an exclusive local and international market for paua pearl jewellery. We talked to Mick about the costs, risks and challenges involved in setting up his business, and how pearls are actually made. |
 |
Setting up the business | How paua
make pearls | Glossary | Photos
| Links
Curriculum links
This Hot Topic relates to:
- Technology - Areas: food, biotechnology
Contexts: environmental, community, business (marketing)
Back to Top
Setting up the business
TKI: So how did you come up with the idea of producing paua pearls?
Mick: I used to go diving for paua in the 1960s, and in the 1970s saw a TV report about abalone pearls being grown in Japan. I've always had a bit of an entrepreneurial nature, so saw an opportunity to produce a unqiue product.
TKI: How did you get started?
Mick: After some failed attempts to get a Ministry of Fisheries (MAF) licence to farm paua, I applied for marine farm in 1979 in Tory Channel and farmed mussels for two years. Then I started growing seaweed, and looked for a complimentary 'crop' to see if I could make the farm more profitable. I knew that paua ate seaweed, and had never given up on the idea of paua pearls. In the mid 1990s I spent the next couple of years researching nucleating methods (implanting paua with plastic 'seeds' to make pearls) and different ways of setting up the paua farm.
TKI: What was involved in setting up your paua operation?
Mick: Firstly, lots of research – both about paua farming and implanting and the legal side of things, for example getting the right permits and licences. Paua farming is very labour intensive as you have to feed the fish every week, so I pioneered a new system to reduce some of the labour. There was, and still is, a lot of trial and error involved to find more efficient techniques and make a better quality pearl.
TKI: Was setting up expensive?
Mick: You need about one million dollars to set up paua farm. Setting up is the most expensive part.
TKI: How did you finance it?
Mick: I was still working full-time as an insurance broker. I did all of the research and development in my spare time. We funded it ourselves.
TKI: Is there an established market for paua pearls?
Mick: The industry is probably about five years ahead of the market. The New Zealand industry needs to do much more marketing, both locally and overseas (e.g. in Europe) to create more of a demand for paua pearls as an exclusive product.
TKI: If you're not at the point where you're making maximum profit, what keeps you going?
Mick: I just keep my belief in the profitability of the paua pearl industry and enjoy the challenge of making it a success. I also know that I can sell the farm and the intellectual property I have accumulated over the years if I don't want to do it anymore.
Back to Top
How paua make pearls
TKI: Do paua make pearls naturally, just like oysters?
Mick: Yes they do. Naturally-formed pearls are created by a piece of grit that
gets between the paua and its shell. These are often quite irregularly shaped.
Unlike oysters, paua make a hemispherical pearl, called a mabe. Of all abalone,
the New Zealand paua (halotis iris) make the most colourful pearls.
TKI: How do you make a paua produce a pearl?
Mick: You carefully insert plastic beads, called 'seeds' at various points around each paua's shell. The gem spot (where the best quality pearls are made) is under the fish's gut and a seed is slipped in between the fish and the shell. Other seeds are then either glued onto or drilled into the shell under the skirt of the paua. Over time, the paua secretes the saliva-like substances nacre and conchiolin over the implant, making a pearl.
TKI: What affects the colour of paua pearls?
Mick: Mainly what the paua eats. Different colours of seaweed bring out colour variations in the shell. Other factors such as water quality and temperature also affect the colour and lustre.
TKI: Do you have to kill paua to extract the pearls?
Mick: At the moment, yes, although new techniques are being developed to try to save the fish. Paua are haemophiliacs, and the slightest nick will cause them to bleed to death. Pearls have to be cut out of the shells, then (because they are hollow), filled with glue, backed, and polished to give the final result.
TKI: Does every paua produce a saleable pearl?
Mick: No. Approximately one in 50 paua will produce a nice gem pearl, and one
in every 5 a nice skirt pearl.
TKI: How is pearl quality measured?
Mick: Paua are graded by iridescence, colour, shape, then size.
TKI: Can you sell the paua meat?
Mick: Not at the moment. I have found that young paua grow pearls faster, so when the pearls are ready the fish are usually too small to get any return for the meat. This aspect needs research and development.
Back to Top
Glossary
conchiolin (pronounced 'conch-a-lin'): secreted bonding substance that binds the nacre and gives the paua shell its iridescent quality.
mabe (pronounced 'mar-bay'): a hemispherical pearl.
nacre (pronounced 'nay-ka'): secreted aragonite and calcite crystals that give the paua shell its colour.
nucleate (pronounced 'new-clee-ate'): to implant a seed into a paua.
seed: an implant (usually plastic)
| Cultivated pearls and a paua shell with multiple implants. |
 |
| A naturally-made pearl (still in shell) with a collection of cultivated
pearls. |
 |
Back to Top
The Abalone Species
This page is from the website of Akaroa-based pearl farm Eyris Blue Pearls. The following pages explain how paua create their colourful shells, how pearls are produced, colour variants and the grading process for paua pearls.
www.bluepearls.com/abalone.shtml
Technology in the News – New Opportunities in Marine Farming
This article looks at marine farming as one of New Zealand's growth
industries. It includes farming paua to overcome the limited fishing quota,
and mentions the lucrative potential of paua pearl farming. The article also
explores potential impacts of increased marine farming on the environment as
well as set-up costs and dangers, and has questions to spark classroom discussions.
This material has been produced by the Royal Society of New Zealand as an example
of technology in the news.
www.tki.org.nz/r/technology/curriculum/rsnz/01eenewops_e.php
Please note: These links were valid when this page was posted. However the Web is very volatile, and TKI has no control over outside websites. Please let us know if you find anything inappropriate, if you find a broken link, or if you have an update for a link by emailing links@tki.org.nz. Te Kete Ipurangi recommends that teachers view all websites we link to before using them with students.
|
