Malampaya Foundation and partners spawn giant native clam in Palawan

The Malampaya Foundation Inc. and its partners have started spawning the Palawan native Tridacna gigas species, one of the world’s biggest giant clams, in the original spawning place to help reverse its population decline.

The in situ spawning, which began early this June, happened at the Western Philippines University (WPU) Hatchery in Biduyan, Puerto Princesa City.

According to the foundation, the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute supervised the spawning activity. About 9.5 million eggs were fertilized from native giant located at Dos Palmas in Honda Bay, near Puerto Princesa. The UPMSI is the forerunner of giant clam conservation in the country.

“Tridacna gigas is hard to propagate because the population is few. We need to really go to the brood stock [source] to collect eggs and sperms, compared to other species of clams which numbers can still afford to be brought into laboratories,” said Dr. Lota A. Creencia of the WPU College of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

Once sufficiently matured, the native Tridacna gigas will be deployed to UPMSI’S marine protected areas in the north of Palawan.

“Important yung giant clams dahil marami silang ecological significance, habitat and food for some of the marine animals. It also benefits people because it helps increase fish density,” said Sherry Lyn Sayco, researcher at UPMSI.

The Tridacna gigas has a known survival rate of .01%, and is one of the most endangered clam species in the world. It was even declared extinct in the Philippines in the 1980s.

In order to bring it back, the UPMSI led by national scientist Dr. Ed Gomez took some specimen coming from the Pacific Islands and grew it in the country.

However, it was found that the Philippine-native species of the Tridacna gigas still exists in Palawan.

The giant clams found in Palawan are actually native, WPU’s Creencia said. “Kasi ang sizes na nandito sa Honda Bay ay really bigger [compared to the ones spawned from Pacific Islands], pero para maconfirm lang ay magcoconduct ng molecular study.”

The 2019 spawning activity was in line with MFI’s “String-of-Pearls of Project” that began last year. The project successfully multiplied two other species of giant clams, namely Tridacna squamosa and Hippopus hippopus, which will be deployed to effectively-managed marine protected areas (MPAs) in North Palawan communities.

MFI has been partnering with communities, local governments and agencies in Palawan, Oriental Mindoro and Batangas to establish, expand and set-up proper management and protection mechanisms for MPAs since 2013.

The project is in partnership with Palawan State University, Western Philippine University, Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, and Dos Palmas Resort & Spa. —VDS, GMA News