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Young oyster have been collected since 1880 or even earlier,
but collecting was not too popular when its chief purpose
was to get oysters as a source of mother-of-pearl. At the
present time collecting is a must because diving alone can
no longer supply the pearl farms. Furthermore, the market
for spats has given a new impetus to collecting.
Collecting is most productive in closed lagoons. However,
these are not usually the lagoons most favourable for pearl
production and growth of mother-of-pearl. In open lagoons
the tides bring in a richer supply of plankton to feed the
oysters; for this reason oysters sometimes are moved from
one lagoon to another.
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