Rico Chang - Assessment Task 3 - People and Economic People - Research Task PDF

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Broken Bay Pearl Farm - The nature of the economic enterprise Broken Bay Pearl Farm (BBPF) established in 2003 is New South Wales’ (NSW) first and the only pearl farm. Partnered with the oldest Australian owned Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm from Western Australia, the Brown’s family’s industry has over 70 years of combined experience in pearliculture. Through sustainable farming methods and culturing processes, BBPF is able to produce high quality products (see figure 1).

James Brown—who is also a marine scientist and an oceanographer—has innovated a new multicomponent business model that doesn’t just rely on culturing and selling pearls but also from their experience-based educational tourism that oers recreational activities (abc 2020). To expand the sources of income, the enterprise further partnered with Inbound tour operators (ITO), local tour operators, accommodations and restaurants to make deals and discounts more appealing to its customers as seen in figure 1.1 and the table below (BBPF 2021).

Through partnering with local business, ITO, travel agents and designers and direct marketing to regional leisure groups such as Probus, BBPF is able to maximise their exposure, marketing and income.

How does the location influence its operations? BBPF is located at the edge of the Lower Hawkesbury River, just one hour north of Sydney NSW Australia, inside the Shellar door (12 Kowan Road Mooney Mooney NSW 2083). See figure 2 below.

The location of BBPF influences pearl culture in several aspects—the mountains oer hydrologic and geologic runos, (Amazing Pearl Cultivation Technology 2021) providing sucient nutrients for Pearl Oysters(PO). According to James Brown, the water in Hawkesbury river peaks around 26℃ in summer and 16-17℃ in winter (abc 2020)—the perfect temperature range for farming PO according to a report made by O’Connor et al—stated that high oyster mortality was shown outside the salinity range of 29-35ppt, and temperature range outside of 18-26℃. In particular, there are no invasive species such as mud worm or intense water activities in the region, and rarely any heavy influxes of freshwater due to rain, which makes the huskebury region the best place for farming PO (abc 2020).

What are the environmental constraints that impact the site? There are a range of environmental constraints due to landform and human activities. BBPF is located around the mountains which could not be used for farming POs. Moreover, the farm is also located around M1 Pacific highway and the railway, which means that noise pollution could persist almost 24/7, adding that there are tons of fishing boats and cruises around. Similarly, the light pollution due to the street light across the M1 bridge at night causes wildlifes disruption (see figure 3). Other human activities such as tourism (from BBPF) can degrade the environment through rubbish tossing and the use of anchors (destroys the seabed). Furthermore, the catchment area is extremely vulnerable to flood released by warragamba dam-spill--up to 500 giga litre of freshwater is possible to flood the catchment overnight (figure 3.1). Subsequently causing decrease in water salinity and eventually kills the PO.

Tidal flows, water pollution and nutrient levels can also influence PO’s growth. If tidal flows are too great resulting in destructive currents and large swells, PO will be wiped out as demonstrated in figure 3.2 (Amazing Pearl Cultivation Technology 2021). Pollution due to sewage leak, waste water, oil and transboundary pollution in the local waterway can also kill the POs. If nutrient levels are too low, then the PO may die from starvation(however this is less likely due to its locational factors)(O’Connor et al 2003).

What are the solutions to these problems? A range of solutions is depicted on the table below:

Is the enterprise’s farming strategies ecologically sustainable? Based on ecological sustainability, BBPF presented a good sustainable farming practice through using long-lines (as seen in figure 4). This farming method eliminates the use of treated timber infrastructure, as well as preventing entanglement while minimizing water obstacles for dolphins, turtles and whales(BBPF 2021).

Furthermore, the main farming species—Akoya Oyster, are native to the place, adding on the fact that oysters are filter feeders which means they play a vital role in maintaining (and even restoring) degraded marine environments (BBPF, 2021). They filter algae from the plankton and reduce phosphorus which in the process cleans the water(Aquaculture News 2018)—also helps sunlight to penetrate deep down the river, allowing seagrass to grow(BBPF 2021)—providing foods, habitats and nursery grounds for other marine animals. However, the use of walnuts to remove protein residue is not ecologically sustainable. Walnut contains juglone—a toxic chemical that can stunt growth, wilt and kill native plants, as well as causing poisonous eects if consumed by animals (plants galore 2021). Thus using walnuts is not an ecologically sustainable practice.

What are the flows of services, people, goods and ideas? BBPF has both internal and external linkage in terms of flows of people, goods, ideas and services that characterises the nature of the enterprise. At internal scale, these linkages are represented through the flow chart in figure 5.1, showing the enterprise’s impact on the local economy through partnership with other local businesses. Moreover, linkages at external scale are represented in figure 5.2, highlighting the business’s impact on the global economy and its heavy dependencies on farming sites, export of luxury goods and ITOs. Together, the flow of people in the enterprise is very diverse as shown in the table below.

Similarly, the enterprise oers oyster catering at local restaurants (bells at killcare, 2021), pearl grading activities and tours including standard tours, discovery tours and experience-heavy tours at dierent price tags (BBPF, 2021), as seen in the table below.

Goods going in and out of the business are summarised in the table below, which includes import and specifically designed tools for the business’s operation, as well as exports including BBPF’s luxury goods and catering goods.

Moreover, the joint-forces with its sister company also allowed the exchange of workers, economy and ideas. For example Cygnet Bay helped to support the economy of BBPF due to restrictions brought by lockdown (abc landline, 2020).

Covid 19 pandemic The most recent global change is the global pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the introduction of tourism ban, hitted BBPF’s tourism and food sector and sales in luxury goods as people shift to discretionary expenses (m. wade, smh 2020). James reported that BBPF has lost 90% of its revenue in 2020 due to flood and the pandemic (J. 2020), and has since shifted its focus from marketing to production—breeding millions more Akoya babies (J. 2020) as well as moving sales online.

Climate change and Technology Similarly, climate change is also causing shorter winter in NSW (csiro 2021), more frequent and long hot days surpassing 40℃ and much frequent bushfires(NSW environment 2019), as well as increase frequent floods and more extreme rainfalls (csiro 2021), causing frequent dam-spill—which all directly aects BBPF’s operation. As a result, James Brown adapted the business towards tourism in 2018 (abc landline,2020) as well as developing PO’s breeding program supported by DPI as Akoya species was tagged as the key stone species in hawkesbury region (DPI 2018). Attention such like this toward climate change also increases among customers, as they value the social and environmental credentials of luxury goods (J. Paspaley 2017). As a result, BBPF was also awarded for the first Marine Stewardship Certification in the pearling industry for sustainable farming practice (MSC, 2017). Furthermore, BBPF is developing a new technology with an independent university that is capable of identifying the origin and authenticity of pearls, hoping that the treated pearls will ease the market ( F. Bainger, 2018). Subsequently, this can also increase the value of authentic pearls.

Geographical method used to assess eects Geographical methods used to assess these eects are shown in the table below. In particular, direct reports such as online virtual sessions and take away menus are shown in figure 6.1 and 6.2 respectively.

Indirect reports include Trac volume viewer and Google mobility report are shown in figure 6.3, 6.4 respectively. Direct geographical reports are highly reliable because it was taken directly from the business. Indirect reports are reliable because they highly correlate with the responses in direct reports, each measurement also correlates with one another (see table below for more justification). The Department of skills education and employment also correlates with data above providing surveys conducted from 250 businesses: 58% of businesses reported that COVID-19 had aected their business ‘a great deal’, 33% having to change business practices and 30% of businesses have reduced sta.

BBPF proves to be a beneficial business to the local’s environment, internal and external economy. The business’s multicomponent approach in terms of opening for tourism, selling luxury goods and partnering with local restaurants allowed a more stable business operations to the changing world. However, a much severe global change and climate change may force the business to develop a more stable and sustainable practice for its long term operation.

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