News

The Chinese province of Hainan has banned the processing and trade of giant clams in an effort to mitigate the destruction of coral reefs in the South China Sea. Already, about 10 percent—some 40 square miles—of the reefs have been destroyed by Chinese poachers removing the huge bivalve mollusks. The clams, which can grow to as much as four feet across, end up as handicraft items for well-off tourists visiting Hainan’s resorts. Much of the trade centers around the port of Tanmen, which has around 150 processing workshops and 900 shops selling giant clam ornaments and jewelry, with sales amounting to $430 million last year.

Not only do the giant clams play a vital role in filtering pollutants, their removal causes catastrophic damage to the reef: The fishermen use their boat propellers to grind up the reef in order to loosen the giant clam shells buried in the coral. The practice is adding to the woes of the South China Sea fishery—one of the world’s largest—which is already on the verge of collapse due to overfishing.

Although the ban is encouraging, some observers are skeptical the new regulations will make much of a difference, given the massive demand for giant clam products. Zhang Hongzhou, a research fellow at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University said: “While the new rule is very comprehensive, I am not sure how well or effectively it will be implemented.”

Read more here.