Most Tahitian pearl farms are located in the Tuamotu Archipelago and Gambier island groups, where conditions of water temperature and plankton levels are ideal. These Tahitian pearl farms are inherently problematic and expensive to operate, due to limited modes of transportation. Therefore, they also have to be fairly self-sufficient, with the majority of the workers living in or around the pearl farm itself. While the government has taken measures to help develop smaller local farms, most do not have the structure or technology necessary to produce the high quality pearls that the larger farms do.
In the early developmental stages of the pearl farms, finding enough of a population of Pinctada margaritifera cumingii was a concern. Scientists and pearl farmers tried dropping many different materials into the water to encourage the young mollusks to attach and grow upon. Eventual regulation of the mollusk population discouraged the transfer of large quantities from island to island, and limits the number that are taken from their natural environments.
