Chile - Culturing Abalone Pearls

Chile - Culturing Abalone Pearls


Since January a team of scientists from the Faculty of Marine Resources of the University of Antofagasta (UA) has been working to develop sphere and half sphere abalone pearl farming.

"Our project seeks to induce the development of pearls in their shells, which are in great demand and really valuable in different markets and industries," explained Anaya.

The researchers plan to induce abalones to produce abalone pearls. To do this, they will introduce nuclei or foreign objects, which, when detected, will make the abalone produce nacre to isolate them.

"Our goal, besides producing abalone meat and trading its shells, is to generate sphere pearls, which are the most demanded by the jewelers. During the investigation we will inoculate 2,700 specimens in which we will observe the results," the UA researcher added.

In Chile, two species of abalone are farmed: the one from California (Haliotis rufescens) and the Japanese one (Haliotis discus hannai).


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