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Domestication
Pohnpei Micronesia
On the Micronesian island of Pohnepei, divers collect naturally occurring black-lipped pearl oysters from the reefs around the island. Divers seek those that will likely produce the finest black pearls. Then breed and raise them in a cultured pearl aquaculture facility. Thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia, early humans selected wild seeds they had gathered from local grasses and began cultivating and selecting those that were biggest in size and with good yield and taste, and saving and planting the best of them, thus domesticating grains, and giving birth to agriculture as we know it. This exact same process of domestication is taking place in Pohnepei, where the oysters’ offspring will be farmed in floating nets for a pearl aquaculture project sponsored by the College of Micronesia.