Giant clams have been cultured at a semi-commercial level in Palau for some years. Outlet for the cultured products has been found in providing broodstock for reef reseeding to countries where the animal is becoming extinct.
Recently, export trials have started with live Tridacna derasa to Okinawa, Japan. There, they are used raw in sushi restaurants or sold brined in jars. The demand seems to be slowly increasing.
Some applications of Giant Clam in Japanese cuisine are described by Cowan (1988).
Traditionally, the meat of the giant clam is consumed by the islanders in the Pacific. Especially the gonads are considered a delicacy in Palau where they are laughingly referred to as “Palauan Mayonnaise”.
Apart from this, a well established export market exists for the adductor muscle, frozen or dried, in Taiwan and East Asia, catering for the ethnic Chinese population (Dawson, 1986). The product commands high prices and this is probably one of the main reasons for the decline of the stocks in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, up to extinction in some areas.
The problem with the present product utilization is that the other parts of the animal such as mantle and guts, accounting for about 75% of the live weight, are discarded in the process or consumed only locally. The main reason for the low demand for those parts could be the unsteady shape and particular algal smell and taste associated with the mantle. These demerits would possibly be overcome by value-added processing.
At the Tropical Development and Research Institute (TDRI, now ODNRI) in London, research was done on alternative product forms of Tridacna derasa (Saunders, Undated). Boiled salted dried clam (after a Japanese recipe) and frozen chopped clam meat (as for a U.S. surf clam product) were tried.
In order to look at other valuable products which could be made from the whole animal or at least the parts discarded in the export trade, The Fishery Programme Officer was asked by the FAO Regional South Pacific Aquaculture Development Project to travel to Palau and undertake smoking trials with giant clam in cooperation with the MMDC. Development of products should in the first place be aimed at satisfying the demand within the important population of Japanese tourists in Palau.
The Itinerary and work schedule for this study trip is given in Appendix 3.
