Dreaming of Home Gardening Oysters or Mussels; help, please?

[Love.Bunny]

Edit:
I'm not too bright and couldn't find a way to delete this post, so I will edit it. Thank you to Lagoon Island Pearls for setting me straight! I hope there are no hard feelings.
Hello! Thank you so much for reading my post, I'm so sorry, it runs long!
Last year I lost my heart cat and it left me devasted with an empty hole in my chest but without the ability to love another furbaby as my own. I recently came across the notion of home gardening pearls and fell in love with the idea.
This isn't something I am going to rush into, but am currently in the rigorous research phase and was hoping to see if this has a chance to be achievable. Mainly, can I even get the spat for pearl oysters or mussels? I hope to save some adults from those live pearl party places, but would really love to raise some up from babies, so anyone knows where I can purchase some or if anyone has any experience with pearl farming, I'd really love the help!

A quick fire to answer any questions:

I will be keeping these animals mainly as pets and only examine for/extract pearls years down their lives, as gently as possible or if they pass.

I have been a foster for kittens since then and will continue to do so throughout. I won't get another pet yet, my heart is not in it. (Yes, I am in therapy.)

Reasons I believe I have a chance to be successful:
○ I suffer from chronic illnesses that keep me homebound, along with insomnia so time and effort is not an issue for me.
○ I love to make things happy and taking care of small creatures.
○ My husband and I own our own home in the Gulf of Mexico and will be moving to Galveston in the foreseeable future, with the possibility of owning our own dock; making for warm climate and plenty of access to living sand.

Thank you so much for your time!!! I know I'm really long-winded. All help is appreciated! Have a wonderful week!

TL;DR: If any one knows where I can purchase pearl oyster or mussle spat around the Gulf, please let me know, as I'm researching the possibility of oyster/mussle gardening. Thank you for your time!

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

I understand the grief of losing pets, having lost and continuing to miss loyal companions.

However, pearl farming at any level is not a simple task.

I hope to save some adults from those live pearl party places, but would really love to raise some up from babies, so anyone knows where I can purchase some or if anyone has any experience with pearl farming

The oysters seen at pearl parties are not from pearl farms. They are reared in Chinese factories. Previously harvested pearls are placed inside, then treated with formaldehyde or bromine so they don't rot in shipping. They are not viable for any purpose other than bad marketing schemes and carnival style novelties.

The sciences of raising and husbandry of oysters or mussels are not trivial matters. It involves highly technical procedures and is exceedingly site specific. Relaying living mollusks from one region to another invariably gives rise to introducing invasive species. The sea is fraught with perils. Storms, plankton blooms, predators and disease (to name a few) are ever present.

I'm sorry to say considering your compassion for living things, without expertise on adequate levels you'd be doing the creatures and your environment a great disservice instead.

 

[Love.Bunny]

I understand the grief of losing pets, having lost and continuing to miss loyal companions.

However, pearl farming at any level is not a simple task.

The oysters seen at pearl parties are not from pearl farms. They are reared in Chinese factories. Previously harvested pearls are placed inside, then treated with formaldehyde or bromine so they don't rot in shipping. They are not viable for any purpose other than bad marketing schemes and carnival style novelties.

The sciences of raising and husbandry of oysters or mussels are not trivial matters. It involves highly technical procedures and is exceedingly site specific. Relaying living mollusks from one region to another invariably gives rise to introducing invasive species. The sea is fraught with perils. Storms, plankton blooms, predators and disease (to name a few) are ever present.

I'm sorry to say considering your compassion for living things, without expertise on adequate levels you'd be doing the creatures and your environment a great disservice instead.

Hi! Thank you so much for your kind words and insight. It never stops hurting and I'm so, so sorry for your losses.

Though I am not a marine biologist (or Conchologist), I have taken care of infant, senior and terminally ill-animals/wildlife, and of our 15 bottle feed, have only lost one to an incurable illness; all things I didn't know how to do but things I learned. So I guess you can say I'm so smitten, I won't listen to reason ontop of being naive. Lol.

Honesty, though, I was truly intending on attempting this after a couple more years researching further and speaking to someone at Palacios Marine Agricultural Research. I just wanted to do a preliminary search for spats to see if I can even give it a try, instead of planning a future home purchase with the oysters in mind.
In coastal areas like ours, we are encouraged to create small oyster "gardens" to better our ecosystem, some farms offer spats for purchase for this purpose, so I was lead to believe it was possible, though they were offering oysters for eating and I was hoping to care for pearl babies.
I don't want you to think I'm ignoring your comment, I am still looking into this but you make perfect arguments as to why this will probably not work, and I take that to heart; I only want to do my own research to the fullest; and I promise you that if it seems as if I will do more harm than good, I will not risk it. Thank you so much for your response and time! Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

I just wanted to do a preliminary search for spats to see if I can even give it a try, instead of planning a future home purchase with the oysters in mind.
In coastal areas like ours, we are encouraged to create small oyster "gardens" to better our ecosystem, some farms offer spats for purchase for this purpose, so I was lead to believe it was possible, though they were offering oysters for eating and I was hoping to care for pearl babies.

There are no pearl farms in the Gulf of Mexico. If there were, it would be illegal for them to sell living mollusks. Long ago I investigated relaying pearl oysters. The process required years of quarantine and intensive biomass studies that would assure they'd not displace indigenous species. Pearl farms are commercial operations and have no interest in expansion for non-commercial or detrimental ecological reasons.

While your determination is admirable, your direction is reckless. Creating a park for children to play is one thing, but creating a hospital where operations are performed is entirely different.

I'm generally very open and helpful to those willing to learn about pearls, but cannot condone this. Hence, this is my final comment.

 

[jshepherd]

An old friend of mine just reached out to me last month and asked if this was real. The way it's presented, it's not obvious satire.

There are several similar videos on YouTube.

 

[Love.Bunny]

An old friend of mine just reached out to me last month and asked if this was real. The way it's presented, it's not obvious satire.

There are several similar videos on YouTube.

Hi, thanks for sharing the video. I'm not sure if this video is legitimate or not, but in Texas you are allowed to collect up to 25lbs of wild mussels for personal uses, excluding consumption, with a fresh-water license. It's assumed they're for pearl harvesting, so it may be real. Thank you again!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Seriously, how can anyone believe that video? Did you see the garish blue, green and bright pink dyed pearls?
FWP do not come in those colors naturally.

 

[Love.Bunny]

Seriously, how can anyone believe that video? Did you see the garish blue, green and bright pink dyed pearls?
FWP do not come in those colors naturally.

Oh! I should have watched til the end. Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[CortezPearls]

Hi, thanks for sharing the video. I'm not sure if this video is legitimate or not, but in Texas you are allowed to collect up to 25lbs of wild mussels for personal uses, excluding consumption, with a fresh-water license. It's assumed they're for pearl harvesting, so it may be real. Thank you again!

And just by looking at the video...those are ASIAN freshwater mussels. Definitively not the "Conchos pearly mussel" of Texas.