Long associated with traditional uses, gemstones and button-making, pearls have now become a premium buy for their meat, which fetches up to $200 a kilogram
“Our mob in the West Kimberley and probably the whole West Australian midwest, north-west are the oldest pearlers in the world,” says Yawuru man Bart Pigram. We’re in the mangroves on Broome’s coastline, and as we walk at low tide my reef shoes sink and squelch.
We collect mud whelks (a mangrove snail) and Pinctada albina, a small species of pearl oyster about 10cm in diameter. Pigram later lights a small fire on the sand, cooking our little harvest. There’s the pleasing salinity of just-harvested seafood and the basic comfort of food imbued with smoke. The view into the mangroves isn’t half bad either. While Pigram guides for a living, this catch-and-cook-type experience isn’t something he does often, preferring to preserve what’s there for locals.
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