[Ganoksin] [Issue #165] Tips From The Jeweler's Bench
 

In this here newsgroup called rec.crafts.jewelry on Fri, 13 Feb 2009
09:16:48 -0800 we all dun see'd a message a-written by Hanuman
which dun sed:


1. What Happens To Pearl Oysters When The World Gets Warmer?
By Suzanne Wade

As the world gets warmer, pearl oysters are on the front lines of
the
ocean's early warning system. Warming waters, changes in weather
patterns, and increases in storm activity may all affect the
future
success of pearl farms, both freshwater and ocean-based.
Precisely
what impact they will have is a little harder to determine:
Relatively little research has been done into oyster
husbandry....

Complete Story:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/sea-change.htm


From the article:
"In March,[2007] the pearl industry responded by drawing up a
resolution during the annual World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO)
conference supporting the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is thus
far the world's most important treaty addressing global warming; its
goal is to reduce the carbon emissions thought to be contributing to
the warming trend."

The Kyoto Protocol doesn't punish those nations most responsible for
spewing out the most "greenhouse gases" and instead hopes to punish
mainly the United States for being successful.

The answer to any disruption in business is always to allow the Free
Market to deal with it. As we've seen in the past few years here in
the states, (as our chickens come home to roost,) top-down
micro-management of an economy or of a business always brings
unintended and negative results.

If Climate Change is caused by man (which evidence decidedly says it
is not) punishing the innovators will not correct the problem.

"Building a Better Oyster
The effects of global warming are likely to be gradual, and pearl
growers are optimistic that oysters can be bred to adapt to counter
the environmental changes. Jerry and his colleagues at James Cook
University are working to establish a selective breeding program they
hope will breed oysters that produce higher-quality pearls and are
able to survive under a variety of environmental conditions.

The research is still in the early stages, and data collected has yet
to be analyzed to determine if some oyster "families" survive
environmental stresses better than others. But Jerry is betting the
answer will be yes. "I think there will be oysters which are better
adapted to [changing] conditions and will survive and grow, while
other families will be exterminated. Having that information will
allow us to include it as a breeding objective."

Taylor also notes that pearl growers may also be able to move their
operation to areas newly conducive to pearl farming. "Some areas might
become more appropriate, while some areas might no longer support
[pearl farms]," he says. "As it stands, we structure the program so
that we do certain activities in certain areas where it suits a
particular life stage of the oyster. For example, all our breeding
work is in north Bali, because we've found that site best suits
survival and growth of young oysters. It might be with changing
conditions, areas formerly good for pearl growing might not be so any
more, and we might have to restructure or move entirely."