Pearling's Future

Article | Updated 7 years ago

The pearlshell beds you find on 80 Mile Beach are a natural phenomenon in the concentration and sheer number, seen nowhere else in the world. As long as the Kimberley environment is pristine, there’s always going to be an opportunity for the pearl industry to exist.

James Brown, manager Cygnet Bay Pearls, 2015

Pearling has demonstrated an innovative capacity to survive by adapting to new conditions, markets and competition. The meshing of pearling with tourism, and the marketing of Australia’s South Sea Pearls, bespoke pearl jewellery and natural pearls, keeps Australian pearls at the pinnacle of the highly competitive global industry.

While in the past, pearlers were reckless with the management of the shell beds, pearling is now an environmentally benign industry. Nevertheless, pearling faces new threats in the modern world. A mysterious disease is killing adult shell. Climate change is affecting coastal currents. The oil and gas industry threatens the pristine marine environment where pearlshell lives: oil spills threaten water quality; mooring chains scrape the bottom of the seabed; and, in general, the increased marine traffic disturbs the waters.

The passage of time also threatens the very cultural heritage of pearling. If the stories of pearlshell are to be preserved and remain vibrant and relevant, the cultural traditions surrounding the harvest and the use of pearlshell must continue to be passed down. Fortunately, Aboriginal elders, the current pearl farmers and old pearling families all share this desire to preserve and retell their pearling heritage.

I am one of the riji (pearlshell) carvers. That’s my life. My grandfather and father taught me the old designs. That's how I tell the story of my country and the history of my people. I pass this on to my young people to take over from me.

Aubrey Tigan, Mayala elder (dec)

Pearlshell and Science

The next generation of artificial bone may rely on a few secrets from the sea … We allow nature to guide the process [of making artificial bone]. Seawater can freeze like a layered material, so why not use this property to cast ceramics that mimic nacre … We are half a micron away from mimicking nature.

Prof. Antoni Tomsia, Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division

Nacre, or mother of pearl, is widely prized for its qualities of lustre, lightness, strength and porosity. But in the modern world it has inspired many other innovative uses of pearlshell in fields as diverse as human health and environmental controls.

Recent research into the structure and physical properties of mother of pearl has generated a model for developing mechanisms of bio-mineralisation. These can be used in bone regeneration or to harden the glass used in mobile devices, such as phones and iPads.

The capacity of the large Pinctada bivalves, or pearl oysters, to process large volumes of water and remove large quantities of suspended particulate matter enables them to act as biomonitors for their own environment. The wide global distribution of pearl oyster species also makes them suitable candidates for monitoring programs of marine pollution, both regionally and globally.

Even the humble clothes button has now become the centre of historical–archaeological research. Archaeologists such as Celeste Jordan have developed new isotopic and trace element analytical techniques to study mother-of-pearl buttons in order to identify the source of the shell and the age of the buttons. This will help to date archaeological sites where buttons have been found, and enable the global distribution of Australian pearlshell to be tracked.

Looking after Pearlshell Country

Australia’s pearlshell beds are managed with environmental sensitivity … Australians have forgotten, or maybe never knew, the importance of pearling. Oil and gas mining walk straight over it … and it’s nothing short of a tragedy. 

Nicholas Paspaley AO, pearl farmer, 2014

A mysterious disease is killing adult shell. Climate change is affecting coastal currents, and the oil and gas industry threatens the pristine marine environment where pearlshell lives.

The pearl beds of areas such as Eighty Mile Beach are central to the lives of the northern Australian Indigenous groups who live and work there, and to the Indigenous rangers determined to protect them.

Looking after the pearlshell itself in crucial. But so, too, is caring for the culture that surrounds it. Aboriginal artists such as Aubrey Tigan, Sandy Paddy, Roy Wiggan and many others are determined to pass on their riji carving skills and designs to the next generation. Under the guidance of elders, young carvers such as Wossi Davies, Gary Sibasado, Sebastian Arrow and Bruce Wiggan see the task of engraving the country and its spirit on shell as a way to continue tradition and ‘look after country’.

Saluting our Pearling Heritage

Cygnet Bay is not just a farm. It is a community. It’s a family home. When I reflect on our journey it is really a story of relationships and the way people work together to get through what would now be considered incredibly difficult and challenging ordeals.

James Brown, pearl farmer and environmentalist, 2015

To me pearlshell carving is all about the culture, being proud of who I am, of keeping our culture going. It’s about keeping the story alive.

Wossi Davies, Bardi pearlshell carver, 2015

The last veterans of the hard-hat industry are passing away, and the traditional pearling beds are under threat. The challenge now is to remember, understand and appreciate the diverse multicultural history of Broome and the northern coast of Australia.

We need to look beyond the idea that pearlshell and pearls are trophies to be acquired and sold. We need to perceive the intricate web of connectedness that exists between the shell, its habitat and the people who harvest it. And, most of all, we need to recognise our responsibility to ‘look after it’.

We hope that this salute to our pearling traditions will inspire you to find ways to protect Australia’s rich pearling heritage.

galiya mabu

[goodbye and thank you]