Tahiti’s pearl industry is facing a severe crisis, marked by a dramatic drop in pearl exports—falling from 5 billion Fcfp in 2019 to just 2.5 billion in 2020. According to Mia Williams, president of the French Polynesia Small and Medium-Sized Pearl Farmers’ Union (SPMPPF), this alarming decline is largely due to the pandemic.
Export prices per gram have also hit a historic low, dropping from 600 Fcfp in 2018 to 270 Fcfp in 2020. Ferdinand Ching, a pearl dealer, explains that this price collapse is partly linked to declining pearl quality, attributed to factors such as lagoon pollution and overproduction.
The situation is further exacerbated by a critical shortage of grafters, a major challenge for local producers. The absence of Chinese grafters, stranded in China, has directly impacted production, leading to a sharp decline in pearl output. By 2020, the number of producers had also decreased by 80 compared to 2018.
Despite these challenges, industry professionals remain cautiously optimistic, emphasizing that resolving the grafter shortage swiftly is crucial to ensuring the survival and sustainability of French Polynesia’s pearl farming sector.
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