Abu Dhabi launches region’s first freshwater oyster project: All you need to know about pearls
Difference between freshwater and saltwater pearls explained
Abu Dhabi: The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has launched the region’s first freshwater pearl oyster aquaculture project in Al Faya.
This initiative builds on the success of the Abu Dhabi Pearls Centre in Mirfa, which was established in 2007 to culture local pearl oysters. The new project focuses on introducing and culturing new oyster species within the emirate.
The facility features a state-of-the-art, indoor aquaculture setup, including 10 units capable of producing up to 10,000 oysters annually. The project also incorporates a quarantine section, as well as research and administrative facilities. To date, around 8,500 freshwater oysters have already been cultured.
Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary-General of EAD, said: “The Abu Dhabi Pearls Centre is the first facility in the Middle East to culture freshwater oyster pearls. It plays a crucial role in supporting studies and research on sustainable oyster farming, while also advancing Abu Dhabi’s position as a leader in developing cutting-edge technologies and building national expertise in this field.”
She said that EAD has successfully cultured local pearl oysters at the Abu Dhabi Pearls Centre in Al Mirfa, gaining the knowledge and expertise required to produce high-quality pearls using sustainable methods.
“This progress has enabled us to expand the project’s aquaculture operations to include new types of pearl-producing oysters, such as freshwater oysters, with an annual production capacity projected to reach 10,000 oysters by the end of 2024. Sustainability has been a core principle in the design of this new project, including the reuse of discharged water from farming units for irrigation, which contributes to environmental conservation and supports water sustainability efforts,” she added.
The project focuses on culturing freshwater oyster species from China and India. Each oyster can produce between 15 and 20 pearls in various shapes, sizes, and colours, further diversifying Abu Dhabi’s contribution to the pearl industry.
Types of pearls
There are essentially two types of pearls: freshwater pearl and saltwater pearl.
- Freshwater pearls grow in mussels living in rivers and lakes.
- Saltwater pearls grow in oysters living in ocean.
- Golden South sea pearls, White South Sea pearls, Tahitian pearls and Akoya pearls are all saltwater pearls.
Differences between saltwater and freshwater pearls
Lustre: In the past, freshwater pearls were less lustrous and not as glossy as saltwater pearls.
However, in recent years, due to the improvement in farming techniques, the lustre of Pearly Lustre’s freshwater pearls is now comparable to that of the saltwater pearl.
Shape: Freshwater pearls come in greater variety of shapes (round, oval, etc) and colors. Saltwater pearls are usually more lustrous and have a rounder shape.
Colour: Saltwater pearls usually are in gold, black and white colour while freshwater pearls are pink, purple and white.
Size: Freshwater pearls used to be cultivated over a shorter period, as a result, they are smaller in size. In recent years, however, many producers start to grow freshwater pearls for a longer time (three to six years), the change to that resulting pearls are larger 8-15mm which comparable to saltwater pearls 9-16mm.
Price: Freshwater pearls are cheaper for several reasons. Freshwater mussels are larger and can thus produce more pearls at a time as compared to saltwater oysters. As a result, saltwater pearls are raree. Saltwater pearls are mostly round and have better lustre characteristics that are more sought after and therefore command higher prices.