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The culturing process starts with
putting a small piece of mantle lobe and a bead made from
mother of pearl shell into the tissues of a pearl-producing
shellfish. It then puts a coating of nacre around it, making
a pearl. Oysters are raised in a tank, allowed
to attach to fibers, then grown in sea water for two to
three years. Growing oysters are in cages hung from rafts.
They feed on plankton. Living oysters are wedged open and a
piece of mantle lobe harvested from another oyster, plus a
bead, are inserted into the soft tissue. Oysters are then returned to the sea,
where they are hung in cages 2 or 3 metres below the
surface. They are maintained and harvested after some time.
The culture period used to be 3.5 yrs, producing 1mm layer
on the bead, but now the culture period may take less than 2
yrs, so the nacre layer is very thin.