Bringing Giant Clams Back to Taiwan's East Coast

TaiwanPlus News

Despite typhoon damage and poaching, a group of Indigenous conservationists are determined to bring giant clams back to the waters off Taiwan's east coast.

Transcript

00:00Divers gently place giant clams just off the Shirtiping Scenic Area on Taiwan's east coast.

00:06It's slow, deliberate work, aimed at bringing back a species that suffered badly from overharvesting.

00:12This project, spearheaded by local indigenous people, has been underway for four years.

00:18Despite some success, there have been big setbacks. Over the past year,

00:22damage from typhoons has caused the population of giant clams here

00:26to fall from 124 to less than 100.

00:44Poaching has been a problem too. People here say someone took five giant clams just days after they

00:49introduced them to these waters in September. But even if they could track down who stole them,

00:54legal avenues are limited.

01:11But there's no giving up here. As far as these divers are concerned,

01:152026 will be the year of the giant clam. There are plans to team up with the government's

01:20Fisheries Research Institute to collect clams that have settled in unsuitable tidal areas

01:25and move them to safer waters, helping to boost this vulnerable species' numbers

01:30in their native habitat.

01:31Klein Wang and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

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