An aquaculture workshop in Palau has been told the pristine waters of some Pacific islands may provide seed stock for farmed species.
A researcher from Hawaii, Maria Haws, said some Asian countries are having increasing difficulty maintaining disease-free stock because of poor development practices.
A marine consultant from Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia, Simon Ellis, says if backed by marketing the black pearl industry offers opportunities which in cases like French Polynesia provide income for far-flung atolls.
Palau's minister for resources and development, Fritz Koshiba, says Palau is looking at an export industry in the long-term but for now it's concentrating on developing aquaculture for local use.
This, he says, reduces the country's dependence on imports and creates jobs.
