The global trade in marine ornamental species

Analysis of trade data
Table 12: Number of giant clams wild sourced, captive bred and from other origins traded worldwide
Totals for number of clams are derived from CITES data for years 1993 to 2001. Percentage of total trade for each source
category is also presented.
Source 1993 % 1994 % 1995 % 1996 % 1997 % 1998 % 1999 % 2000 % 2001 % Total
Wild 9,485 20 15,739 26 55,830 62 60,449 85 47,394 61 92,671 82 93,198 74 94,159 82 96,662 76 565,587
Captive bred 7,402 15 5,731 10 6,913 8 9,303 13 28,989 37 19,783 18 32,789 26 20,695 18 27,318 22 158,923
Other 31,546 65 38,249 64 27,721 30 1,153 2 1,256 2 157 0 319 0 531 0 2,735 2 103,876
Grand total 48,433 100 59,719 100 90,464 100 70,905 100 77,639 100 112,611 100 126,306 100 115,385 100 126,715 100 828,386
Other: unspecified, no reported source, pre-convention, ranched, Illegal/seizure
poisonous in high quantities for other living animals in
the tank.
Belonging to the family Tridacnidae and composed
of two genera, Tridacna (seven species) and Hippopus
(two species), giant clams are the largest bivalves in the
world. Their range stretches across the Indo-Pacific
region from the eastern coast of Africa in the west to the
south Pacific in the east 80 .
All species of giant clams have traditionally been
harvested as a subsistence food source throughout their
Figure 4: Major exporters of live and wild-sourced
clams
Totals are derived from importers’ data as Viet Nam,
Philippines, Fiji and Vanuatu report on the basis of
permits issued and not on actual trade, and not all
exporters are Party to CITES.
No. of clams (000)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1993 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 2001
Philippines
Tonga
Solomon Is.
Fiji
Marshall Is.
Micronesia
Vanuatu
Viet Nam
range. Clam shells have also been used as ornaments in
the curio trade and as troughs for holding water or
feeding livestock 80 . More recently, their meat has been
served as a delicacy, even considered as an aphrodisiac
in some Asian and Pacific countries. The more brightly
coloured (T. maxima, T. crocea and T. derasa) species
have been popular organisms in the marine ornamental
trade 81 , with T. squamosa and T. gigas also being traded
but in smaller numbers. Unsustainable exploitation
ranging from legal commercial and subsistence use to
illegal poaching activities of giant clam species has led to
the local extinctions of some species such as T. gigas in
at least four of the 20 countries and territories where it is
known to have occurred 84 . As a result of overexploitation,
all species of giant clams are listed in CITES Appendix II.
However, CITES annual report data do not include trade
by non-CITES signatories, which include all South Pacific
countries except Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu and
large importers such as Taiwan 85 . According to the IUCN
Red List 2000, four species of Tridacnidae are classified
as vulnerable (T. derasa, T. gigas, T. rosewateri and
T. tevoroa) and the five others are considered to be
at lower risk. Import suspensions into the EU exist for
all wild specimens of the following country-species
combinations: H. hippopus from New Caledonia, T.
crocea from Viet Nam, T. derasa from Tonga, T. gigas
from Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji,
Indonesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea
and Vanuatu, and T. squamosa from Tonga, Viet Nam and
New Caledonia 86 . Negative opinions were also formed for
Hippopus hippopus from Tonga, Vanuatu and Viet Nam,
T. crocea from Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu, T. derasa from
Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu, T. gigas from Tonga
and Viet Nam, T. maxima from the Federated States of
Micronesia, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Mozambique, New
Caledonia, Tonga, Vanuatu and Viet Nam, T. rosewateri
from Mozambique, T. squamosa from Fiji, Mozambique
and Vanuatu and T. tevoroa from Tonga 69 .
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