It is the home to Australia's first
cultured pearl farm and is named after the company's first principal, Tokuichi Kuribayashi (1896–1982). The Japanese-American-Australian company commenced operations in 1956 following the Western Australian Government repealing the Pearling Act that prohibited the production, sale and possession of cultured pearls. A monument to the founders of the Kuri Bay pearling industry stood in Broome and featured Tokuichi Kuribayashi, Keith Dureau and Hiroshi Iwaki. Kuribayashi was originally from Nippon Pearl Company, Tokyo, while Iwaki and Dureau were from Pearl Proprietary Ltd, which had been set up through finance from Otto Gerdau Company, Male and Co, and Brown and Dureau Ltd. By 1973 the Kuri Bay operation was producing 60% of the world's large white
South Sea pearls.
Paspaley, the biggest supplier of South Sea pearls in the world, has one of their largest and most well-known pearl farms located at Kuri Bay. ==Climate==