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  Pearl culture in abalone has come a long way since 1897 when the first implantation (a small natural pearl attached to a horsehair inserted into the pallial cavity of Haliotis tuberculata) was made by Louis Boutan at the Roscoff Laboratory in the south of France. During this same period, Japan's "King of Pearls" Kokichi Mikimoto also attempted (with lackluster results) to culture blister pearls in awabi (abalone) before moving on to a more pliable mollusc, the pearl oyster. During the first quarter of the 20th Century, Louis Boutan developed the basic technology for culture of blister pearls in abalone. In the mid-1950's, Tokyo University's Dr. Kan Uno made improvements on Boutan's technique for producing attached half pearls, and over the past decade, the Jo (Yo) family of Korea Abalone Pearls have enjoyed some success in the culture of abalone free pearls.
 Successfully growing pearls in abalones is normally very difficult, and to be successful, one must know what one is about......not unlike the process of culturing abalone seed. Moreover, to produce abalone pearls on a commercial scale, the grower must have the technology which permits the company to nucleate large numbers of your animals quickly, inexpensively, and safely. Depending upon the location and size of the abalone culture facility, there are several paths to chose from for licensing this technology: Scientific License The cost for a Scientific License is modest, and basically covers the cost of the legals for the license, a copy of the patent, a training video, plus mailing and shipping costs. Pacific Pearl Culture Ltd. can also provide you with nucleus molds at cost plus 30%, and can advise you as to suppliers for raw nucleus material and other material and equipment items. You are welcome to keep for your personal use, or give away, pearls produced under the terms of the Scientific License. Should you elect, however, to sell the pearls you produced using the technology, you may of course do so, but you must pay to Pacific Pearl Culture Ltd. a royalty of 50% of the gross revenues from these sales. A help line is available for all categories of technology licenses (Commercial, Scientific and Special Scientific) for those times when problems arise. Commercial License Special Scientific License For further information and/or application
for a technology license, contact Dr. Peter V. Fankboner at: E-mail: Peter_Fankboner@sfu.ca
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