Is sustainable development a motor or a constraint for the professionalization of the pearl oyster industry in Tahiti

This article reports the results of a survey of the pearl oysterindustry in French Polynesia territory. Its purpose is to examine the perceptions of the priorities for the development of this industry towards sustainable development. These perceptions were apprehended by a survey of pearl oysterfarmers and other stakeholders of the sector (management authorities, scientists). After describing the methodological protocol of these investigations, it comes to confront the priorities chosen by professionals (i.e. pearl farmers) concerning sustainable development, with the perceptions of others stakeholders in the sector. Secondly it comes to build a typology of the priorities of pearl farmers concerning sustainable development. This analysis enables the assessment of the degree of convergence within the sector, which is the base material for defining a shared action planat the territory scale. This is the first study compiling data of surveys of various professionals and stakeholders of the pearl farming industry in such a large area in French Polynesia.