WIO Mariculture Forum

Pearl farming is a new initiative in Zanzibar which is barely 2 years old but already it has proven to be successful and has become a big attraction to researchers, entrepreneurs, politicians and communities both nationally and internationally. The pearl farming activity has shown that scientific research can be translated to ecologically and economically friendly projects. The pearl farming idea started in 2006 when an expert from the University of Hawaii USA, Dr Maria Haws visited Fumba under the SUCCESS project through WIOMSA and IMS and offered a training on pearl farming technique and jewelry making to community members of Fumba peninsula. Since its inception the project has gained a lot of recognition and many people visit the site to see for themselves the developments taking place. A total of 28 very good pearls were obtained. A number of these were sold fetching $3600 during the auction. The activity which also involved an exhibition of the products made by the women of Fumba peninsula, posters and videos was officially launched by the Minister of women and youth MS Asha Abdulla. The member of parliament Dr Mwinyihaji Makame and the Director of IMS, Prof Dubi were also present The main organizers of the function were from IMS (Dr N.S Jiddawi and Dr. Mmochi A assisted by Omar Amir, Salum Hamed, Saleh Yahya and Ngowo Redfred). Participants from WIOMSA were Dr M. Osore who gave a speech on behalf of the executive secretary of WIOMSA. Farhat Mbarouk and Semba M also assisted in the organization. The project is funded by SUCCESS through WIOMSA and facilitated by IMS.

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