Giant Clam farming: potential benefits for islands & atolls?
The seafood markets for Giant Clams in Japan, China, Korea & Taiwan are large enough to be supplied by hundreds medium sized farms. For the Japanese & Korean live in-shell markets, the only limitation for the farm is the close proximity to an international airport within an 8 -10 hours flying time from Japan/Korea.
For the Chinese/Taiwanese markets of processed adductor muscle, dried mantle meat and large shells of T.Gigas & T.Derasa, the farming of these clams has the unique advantage that the grow-out phase can be managed in remote locations which presently have little or no sources of income.
Giant clam restocking is beneficial to reef-restoration & will sustain the seafood markets of Pacific islands.
The collecting of hundreds of thousand of Tons of ancient T.Gigas shells from the bottom of the South China Sea by Hainan fishermen for 20 years and the natural reproduction of many millions of T.Maxima clams in Polynesian atolls & islands are the perfect examples that a farming project is not only possible but actually very feasible. Other suitable farming locations in the Indo-Pacific region are: Coron in the Philippines, East & West Timor, Morotai in the Moluccas, Munda in the Solomon islands, Saipan in the Marianas.
There are many more possible locations like the Maldives, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Andaman islands, Comoros, Myanmar, Vietnam , Camboja, Thailand, Malaysia, India & many islands in Indonesia would be suitable and the potential seafood markets are presently unlimited.
For all inquiries, please contact Phildor@tmdc.info
