Story of the Pearl
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Chris is a traditional pearl diver from the Aru Islands in southeastern Moluccas in Indonesia. He has been in this trade for the past 7 years. Almost everyday, Chris and his fellow divers go to the sea in search of pearl oysters, a very sought after mollusc of Aru's thriving pearl farming industry.
If he is lucky, he would go home with about 2-3 of these mollusc after an entire day of diving. Otherwise, he would have no income for that day. Most people think that pearl divers like him must be enjoying the affluence that is usually associated with this expensive gem. But for Chris and other traditional divers like him, their living conditions are far from the lustre of these precious pearls.
His village Marlassy is a remote hilly community built on a vast bed of fossilised coral North of the Aru Islands. But it is one of the main centres of Indonesia's lucrative pearl industry. However the villagers here do not enjoy electricity and piped water and they travel in fishing boats from one island to another.
As most of the people in Marlassy are engaged in the pearl diving work, their livelihood is literally dependent on the Chinese merchants who collect their catch and sell them to the nearby big pearl culturing farms.
History of pearls
Throughout history, human beings have always regarded pearls as priceless gems. Hundreds of years ago, knights believed they possess magic to protect them from harm. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead together with their pearls. In ancient Rome, pearls were a status symbol for the rich and status.
During the Renaissance in Europe then, some countries even passed laws forbidding ordinary people to wear pearls except for the nobility! At one point in history, pearls had greater value than the diamond. In the eastern parts, pearls were ground into powder and believed to be a cure for anything from heart diseases to potency.
Value of pearls
There are essentially three types of pearls: natural, cultured and imitation. A natural pearl is formed when an irritant such as a tiny grain of sand gets into the shell and the oyster tries to cover this irritant with a fluid. And after several years the constant secretion of this liquid will form the pearl inside these oysters. But it is very rare to find a natural pearl.
That’s why the process of pearl culture was developed where humans induce this irritant into the shell and wait for about 3 years for the pearl to be formed. In this process, it is said that after a 5-10 year cycle, only about 50% of the oysters will survive. Out of this figure, only about 5% can be considered of acceptable quality for the top jewelry makers.
The art of pearl culture was invented by a man named Kokichi Mikimoto in Japan in 1893. Until today, the Japanese are considered the foremost experts in seeding oysters and the Mikimoto family continues to be one of the largest pearl producing empires.
But two definite factors to assess a pearl for its value and price are its luster and size. For example, the Japanese Akoya cultured pearls are some of the most lustrous and a necklace of 40 such pearls measuring 7mm in diameter could cost between $1,500 to USD4,500. (Y165,000 – Y495,000)
In comparison, the South Sea pearls of Australia, Myanmar, and Indonesia are less lustrous but they are more rare and larger, with diameters of 10 to 20mm. These pearls are far costlier for instance, a 16-inch strand of white South Sea pearls could be sold for between USD$40,000 to USD$50,000. (Y4,000,000 – Y5,000,000)
Organisations such as the World Pearl organization, Cultured Pearl Association, Japan Pearl Promotion Society, and Australia’s Licensed Pearl Producers have ongoing awareness raising efforts to inform the consumers with information about pearls and how they are priced. They are very concerned that uninformed buyers could actually create confusion in the market price of pearls.
According to the world record, in 1992, the highest price paid for pearls was a necklace made of a 17-inch strand of 23 cultured pearls embedded on 60 round diamonds. It was sold at London’s famous auction house, Sotheby’s for a price of US$2.3 million! (Y253,000,000)
Japanese interests in Indonesia
Today the foremost producers of pearls are Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, China, India, Philippines, and Tahiti. Japan controls roughly 80% of the world pearl market, followed by Australia and China respectively. Many pearl producing countries export their pearls to Japan, where they are sold to retailers around the world or sold to consumers in Japan. Only around half the pearls sold in the Japanese market actually came from Japan.
South Sea pearls culturing was established in 1920 by Dr. Sukeo Fujita, a veteran of the Japanese Akoya pearl industry, who started in the Celebes (Sulawesi), an island in East Indonesia. However, during the World War II, this culture activity was transferred to another country in the Pacific.
In 1963, several Japanese companies started pearl culture again but this time in Buton Island. In 1969, a certain Japanese company invested US$1 million dollars into starting a pearl operation in Aru Islands in the Moluccas province.
By the early 1990’s about 28 major pearl operations was already established along the coast of the northern and eastern Aru islands, most of them Japanese and Chinese owned. In mid 1990’s Japanese investors had spread their interests in the pearl culture industry only in the province of Maluku, but also in Southeast and Central Sulawesi (Celebes), West Nusa Tenggara, Lombok (Eastern Indonesia) and Lampung (Sumatra). But since the violent conflicts erupted in the Maluku & Sumatra provinces in 1999, some pearl cultivation has shifted to other parts of Indonesia.
Problems caused by the pearl culturing operations.
The over-exploitation of the pearl culturing business has created an alarming loss of these special wild mussels and their natural habitat. As a result many countries have passed laws to protect these resources but its strict enforcement is still difficult.
In Indonesia a critical issue is the control over ancestral and traditional land of the local inhabitants of these islands and their seas. Most of these companies try to influence local villagers to secure a lease to their communal lands and marine resources in order to be able to operate their pearl culturing activities there.
In Aru Islands, there are agreements signed about 15-25 years ago between village leaders and these investors that are quite ridiculously in favour of the companies. For instance, one village leader shared that his father who was the former village chief had signed an agreement with an investor allowing them to operate on their land & sea for 10 years for a small fee of only RP10 million (USD4,500 at the exchange rates of that time).
Local villagers who used to fish freely are now prohibited from fishing or even passing nearby the pearl farms along the coastal areas. "We are treated like thieves because when we travel a little too near the pearl breeding sites, armed men in speed boats shine powerful torches into our faces and rudely chase us away," Chris the traditional diver said.
The Moluccan People react
Today, after years of being exploited by the pearl industry, villages are finally awakened to their unjust situation. Recently, several communities are beginning to revive their traditional customary "Sasi" laws which have very strong emphasis on conservation of their natural resources of the land and seas.
The Sasi laws are traditional customary laws of the indigenous Moluccas people which can be used to prohibit certain natural resources of their customary land from being harvested. And if anyone caught breaking the Sasi law will be penalised and fined by the communities.
"We, the customary councils of different villages have to cooperate to check this alarming situation and protect our sea and land resources from being drained by these industries," said Mr.Demi Djubumir, village head of Marlassy community. Mr.Djubumir and his community have decided not to renew the agreement made between his village and some pearl operations some 10 years ago.
As such communities such as Marlassy have already started to educate their people and starting to seek alternative income generation activities such as cooperative fishing, farming and other trade. This way the people will not have to continue feeding the pearl culturing business with the oysters and destroying their own natural resources in the near future.
"If we continue to depend on the pearl industry for our livelihood, our lives will suffer more hardship in the coming days," Djubumir said.
Source: SEAPCP
If he is lucky, he would go home with about 2-3 of these mollusc after an entire day of diving. Otherwise, he would have no income for that day. Most people think that pearl divers like him must be enjoying the affluence that is usually associated with this expensive gem. But for Chris and other traditional divers like him, their living conditions are far from the lustre of these precious pearls.
His village Marlassy is a remote hilly community built on a vast bed of fossilised coral North of the Aru Islands. But it is one of the main centres of Indonesia's lucrative pearl industry. However the villagers here do not enjoy electricity and piped water and they travel in fishing boats from one island to another.
As most of the people in Marlassy are engaged in the pearl diving work, their livelihood is literally dependent on the Chinese merchants who collect their catch and sell them to the nearby big pearl culturing farms.
History of pearls
Throughout history, human beings have always regarded pearls as priceless gems. Hundreds of years ago, knights believed they possess magic to protect them from harm. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead together with their pearls. In ancient Rome, pearls were a status symbol for the rich and status.
During the Renaissance in Europe then, some countries even passed laws forbidding ordinary people to wear pearls except for the nobility! At one point in history, pearls had greater value than the diamond. In the eastern parts, pearls were ground into powder and believed to be a cure for anything from heart diseases to potency.
Value of pearls
There are essentially three types of pearls: natural, cultured and imitation. A natural pearl is formed when an irritant such as a tiny grain of sand gets into the shell and the oyster tries to cover this irritant with a fluid. And after several years the constant secretion of this liquid will form the pearl inside these oysters. But it is very rare to find a natural pearl.
That’s why the process of pearl culture was developed where humans induce this irritant into the shell and wait for about 3 years for the pearl to be formed. In this process, it is said that after a 5-10 year cycle, only about 50% of the oysters will survive. Out of this figure, only about 5% can be considered of acceptable quality for the top jewelry makers.
The art of pearl culture was invented by a man named Kokichi Mikimoto in Japan in 1893. Until today, the Japanese are considered the foremost experts in seeding oysters and the Mikimoto family continues to be one of the largest pearl producing empires.
But two definite factors to assess a pearl for its value and price are its luster and size. For example, the Japanese Akoya cultured pearls are some of the most lustrous and a necklace of 40 such pearls measuring 7mm in diameter could cost between $1,500 to USD4,500. (Y165,000 – Y495,000)
In comparison, the South Sea pearls of Australia, Myanmar, and Indonesia are less lustrous but they are more rare and larger, with diameters of 10 to 20mm. These pearls are far costlier for instance, a 16-inch strand of white South Sea pearls could be sold for between USD$40,000 to USD$50,000. (Y4,000,000 – Y5,000,000)
Organisations such as the World Pearl organization, Cultured Pearl Association, Japan Pearl Promotion Society, and Australia’s Licensed Pearl Producers have ongoing awareness raising efforts to inform the consumers with information about pearls and how they are priced. They are very concerned that uninformed buyers could actually create confusion in the market price of pearls.
According to the world record, in 1992, the highest price paid for pearls was a necklace made of a 17-inch strand of 23 cultured pearls embedded on 60 round diamonds. It was sold at London’s famous auction house, Sotheby’s for a price of US$2.3 million! (Y253,000,000)
Japanese interests in Indonesia
Today the foremost producers of pearls are Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, China, India, Philippines, and Tahiti. Japan controls roughly 80% of the world pearl market, followed by Australia and China respectively. Many pearl producing countries export their pearls to Japan, where they are sold to retailers around the world or sold to consumers in Japan. Only around half the pearls sold in the Japanese market actually came from Japan.
South Sea pearls culturing was established in 1920 by Dr. Sukeo Fujita, a veteran of the Japanese Akoya pearl industry, who started in the Celebes (Sulawesi), an island in East Indonesia. However, during the World War II, this culture activity was transferred to another country in the Pacific.
In 1963, several Japanese companies started pearl culture again but this time in Buton Island. In 1969, a certain Japanese company invested US$1 million dollars into starting a pearl operation in Aru Islands in the Moluccas province.
By the early 1990’s about 28 major pearl operations was already established along the coast of the northern and eastern Aru islands, most of them Japanese and Chinese owned. In mid 1990’s Japanese investors had spread their interests in the pearl culture industry only in the province of Maluku, but also in Southeast and Central Sulawesi (Celebes), West Nusa Tenggara, Lombok (Eastern Indonesia) and Lampung (Sumatra). But since the violent conflicts erupted in the Maluku & Sumatra provinces in 1999, some pearl cultivation has shifted to other parts of Indonesia.
Problems caused by the pearl culturing operations.
The over-exploitation of the pearl culturing business has created an alarming loss of these special wild mussels and their natural habitat. As a result many countries have passed laws to protect these resources but its strict enforcement is still difficult.
In Indonesia a critical issue is the control over ancestral and traditional land of the local inhabitants of these islands and their seas. Most of these companies try to influence local villagers to secure a lease to their communal lands and marine resources in order to be able to operate their pearl culturing activities there.
In Aru Islands, there are agreements signed about 15-25 years ago between village leaders and these investors that are quite ridiculously in favour of the companies. For instance, one village leader shared that his father who was the former village chief had signed an agreement with an investor allowing them to operate on their land & sea for 10 years for a small fee of only RP10 million (USD4,500 at the exchange rates of that time).
Local villagers who used to fish freely are now prohibited from fishing or even passing nearby the pearl farms along the coastal areas. "We are treated like thieves because when we travel a little too near the pearl breeding sites, armed men in speed boats shine powerful torches into our faces and rudely chase us away," Chris the traditional diver said.
The Moluccan People react
Today, after years of being exploited by the pearl industry, villages are finally awakened to their unjust situation. Recently, several communities are beginning to revive their traditional customary "Sasi" laws which have very strong emphasis on conservation of their natural resources of the land and seas.
The Sasi laws are traditional customary laws of the indigenous Moluccas people which can be used to prohibit certain natural resources of their customary land from being harvested. And if anyone caught breaking the Sasi law will be penalised and fined by the communities.
"We, the customary councils of different villages have to cooperate to check this alarming situation and protect our sea and land resources from being drained by these industries," said Mr.Demi Djubumir, village head of Marlassy community. Mr.Djubumir and his community have decided not to renew the agreement made between his village and some pearl operations some 10 years ago.
As such communities such as Marlassy have already started to educate their people and starting to seek alternative income generation activities such as cooperative fishing, farming and other trade. This way the people will not have to continue feeding the pearl culturing business with the oysters and destroying their own natural resources in the near future.
"If we continue to depend on the pearl industry for our livelihood, our lives will suffer more hardship in the coming days," Djubumir said.
Source: SEAPCP