Oysters that can produce pearls only once could be released back to the oceans but they are rather killed and sold for their meat and other parts. And the ones that could be nucleated again might die by accident when the pearl is cut out.

Do oysters feel pain when making pearls?

Instead, the oyster may react to predation or environmental changes, but it does not have a system in place to experience pain the way a sentient organism (like a human, pig or even lobster) does. Do oysters feel pain? Likely no.

Can you get pearls without killing the oyster?

Put a plug into the clam to keep it open. Like the grafting process, extracting the pearl without killing the oyster requires putting in a plug to hold the shell apart. Cut the oyster and use tweezers to remove the pearl. Remove the plug and allow the oyster time to recover before grafting with the oyster again.