The tip of Western Australia's Dampier Peninsula, where the red dirt meets the pristine waters of the Kimberley coast, is home to one of Australia's oldest working pearl farms.He was selected by an independent judging panel for the ABC Rural and Kondinin Group awardIt is where James Brown and his family have been farming south sea pearls for three generations, approximately 220 kilometres north of Broome.
National Farmers' Federation president Fiona Simson said his resilience and innovative thinking stood out to this year's judging panel for the ABC Rural and Kondinin Group award."At a time when so many pearl farmers were going broke, we saw James take on that challenge and grow his business … and take that to the next level," she said.
In the years that followed, he worked closely with his sons Lyndon and Bruce and local Bardi Jawi families to bring Australian pearling into a new era. "It's only through breeding that we can actually find family lines that will hopefully return that kind of productivity we need," he said. Almost four years ago, they expanded into farming the lesser-known Akoya pearl after buying a controlling share in Broken Bay Pearls.
"The rebuild is going to take few years. There's no doubt about it, but at least we've got something to rebuild with."With international borders closed for COVID-19, an influx of domestic tourists this year has offered both WA and NSW operations a boost.
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