The fishing and marketing of freshwater pearls and mussel shells
by other than Native Americans has a long history in the United States, with the
earliest recorded production probably coming from New Jersey. The formal freshwater
mussel fishing industry has been established since the mid-1850’s.
America's promising pearl industry was virtually dead by 1900.
Whole families, searching for pearls from Connecticut to Florida, and west
to the Mississippi, overexploited the mussel resource. The industrialization of
America, with accompanying pollution, decimated entire populations in many waters.
Pearl discoveries became rare, and did not offer such lucrative rewards.
The American freshwater pearl was a "natural" pearl, formed
when an unwelcome intruder, such as a bit of shell or a parasite, invaded
the mantle of a mollusk.
The world's supply of natural pearls (both freshwater and saltwater)
was reaching the point of exhaustion, and if it were not for the
invention of the "cultured" pearl by three Japanese researchers,
there would be no pearl industry today, and the value of a natural
pearl necklace would be astronomical.
A very profitable fishery supported a large shell button industry until
World War II when plastic buttons displaced shell buttons. The fishery fell
into disorganization and was dormant until the early 1950's. The mother of
pearl industry and bead nucleus for the Japanese culture pearl industry have
supported the fishery since the 1950's.
During the 1990's, the value of U.S.
mussel shell exports to Japan started at more than $50 million annually but
has declined to about $35 million annually. Prior to 1992, freshwater pearls
were primarily a byproduct of the shell industry. This changed with the
coming of freshwater cultured pearl farms in Tennessee and California, and
the increasing popularity of freshwater pearl jewelry with the U.S. consumers.
The first experimental U.S. freshwater cultured pearl farm was established in
Tennessee by John Latendresse in 1963. Latendresse is the father of U.S. cultured
freshwater pearls, having spent nearly 30 years and more time, money, and effort than
anyone else in the research and development of the industry.
Since proving the technology
for culturing freshwater pearls in the late 1970's, Mr. Latendresse has established five
freshwater pearl farms. James Peach, who once worked with Latendresse, has established a
single farm. Additionally, a single farm has been established in California using mussels
from the Southeastern United States. These farms are the foundation of the U.S.
freshwater cultured pearl industry, and the cultured pearl is the heart and future
of the U.S. pearl industry.
The ultimate size of the cultured pearl industry depends on a number of factors.
The acreage of pollution free water available that is suitable for farms could decide
the size of the industry. Yet, even before the limitation of available suitable water comes
into play, two main factors, demand for cultured freshwater pearls and the supply, or the
ability of the producers to meet this demand with acceptable goods routinely, will decide the
future of the industry. Some individuals have already likened these two factors to the chicken and
egg question; does the demand for the pearls come first, or does the adequate supply of acceptable
goods come first. Indications are that both factors are currently complementing each other, and
they are contributing to the healthy growth of the young industry.
John Latendresse, passed away July 23, 2000,
three days before his 75th birthday,
he was the first successful North American freshwater cultured pearl farmer.
More than any other individual, Latendresse was responsible for creating the North
American freshwater pearl farming industry, and he was voted one of the industry's
most important people of the century
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