| Licensing
To be legally entitled to operate in the pearl oyster culture industry the licensee must hold both a pearl oyster fishery licence and a pearl oyster culture industry licence. The licensee must also hold a minimum of 5 pearl oyster fishery and 15 pearl oyster hatchery units to maintain a licence.
The number of shell a licensee may seed is controlled under the Fisheries Act. The number is determined by (1) the amount of shell previously seeded and held by the operator and (2) entitlements (termed ?units?) associated with holding a pearl fishing licence and a pearl culture licence. A fishery unit and hatchery units (culture licence) are fixed at 120 and 300 units respectively with one unit equivalent to 1,000 oysters. Units may be traded (permanently or temporarily) between licensed entities.
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The production of pearls from the silver-lipped pearl oyster, Pinctada maxima, is currently the only molluscan aquaculture industry in the NT with an estimated annual value of $18M. This quota managed industry currently has 6 licensed producers who obtain their oysters either from the wild (dived shell) or from hatchery raised stock. The pearl farms are located at Bynoe Harbour, Coburg peninsular and around the islands North West of Nhulunbuy.
Recently completed project work (FRDC funded) includes the production of an histological atlas of normal and diseased pearl oysters. The atlas was compiled from data collected for an earlier FRDC funded project (No 94/079: Health Survey of Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland Pearl Oyster Beds and Farms).
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Cleaning the shell in a pearl panel, which is Normally suspended in the ocean from a fixed line.
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Australian silver pearls are highly sought after on the world market.
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