Pearl harvest shows promise

Namdrik pearl farmers dive on the strings of oysters growing happily in Namdrik’s calm lagoon. Photo: USAID’s Pacific American Climate Fund/Matt Abbott.
Namdrik pearl farmers dive on the strings of oysters growing happily in Namdrik’s calm lagoon. Photo: USAID’s Pacific American Climate Fund/Matt Abbott.

A pearl harvest and re-seeding of black lip pearl oysters was a major focus at Namdrik late last month. The community harvested about 1,000 pearls and seeded thousands more oysters that were put back in the lagoon for future harvests.

Minister Mattlan Zackhras, who represents Namdrik in Nitijela, said the pearl farm has received a tremendous boost from the infusion of support from USAID’s Pacific American Climate Fund. This is not only providing funding, but also significant technical support, he said.

While Namdrik’s pearl farm has been in a “pilot” stage for a number of years, Zackhras said the Pacific American Climate Fund support is helping Namdrik move the farm to a commercial level of production.

Read more about this in the September 23, 2016 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.