BirdLife International, a global alliance of conservation organizations based in the UK, is raising an alarm internationally in the hope that the Cook Islands authorities can be persuaded to deny the pearl farming permit to the Rock Lobster Company. Suwarrow Atoll deserves to be protected from commercial development to preserve its outstanding natural beauty and globally important biodiversity. Our Suwarrow Committee in the Cook Islands believe the atoll has such large bird populations because it was never permanently inhabited by humans. The only inhabitants are three caretakers who are planted there with supplies each May and stay until late November when they are recovered and returned to Rarotonga. Eleven seabird species breed on the remote and isolated atoll.
Black pearls range from medium to very dark gray and sell for high prices.
But the Cook Islands Development Investment Board lists black pearl farming as one of the most important income producers for the island nation. Unlike the large commercial operations often found in Tahiti, the Cook Island black pearl farming industry is still dominated by smaller, privately owned farms spread across the Northern group of the islands. To help establish pearl farming they propose to import oysters from neighboring Manihiki atoll because the wild stock in Suwarrow's lagoon is already rare. But recently, an unusually high number of Vibrio bacteria caused significant deaths in pearl shells in the Manihiki lagoon, raising the threat of increased disease on Suwarrow atoll. Suwarrow atoll is a breeding ground for tropicbirds like this one.