Angler saves giant clam

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Reuben (left) with Obit and Exco releasing the giant clam at Sutera Marina.

KOTA KINABALU: Reuben Jimmy together with Sabah Anglers Association (SAA) Angling Master Obit Lo and Exco Sylvester Binsing released a live giant clam (Tridacna gigas) at the Sutera Marina Resort here yesterday.

Reuben said he came across the live giant clam on sale at the Kinarut tamu yesterday morning and decided to buy it as he wanted to save it from ending up on someone’s dining table.

“I saw that it was still alive and I felt sad as I have read an article that giant clams take a long time to spawn and grow. As an angler it is also common knowledge that giant clams are water filters in the sea,” he said.

Reuben said that he bought the giant clam for RM15.

“I called my friend Obit and asked him where I can release the giant clam. He suggested that we do it in Sutera Marina,” he said, adding that he just wanted to play a part in saving a species which has become extinct in many areas where it was once common.

According to Wikipedia, the IUCN lists the giant clams as “vulnerable”.

One of a number of large clam species native to the

shallow coral reefs of the South Pacific and Indian oceans, they can weigh more than 200 kilograms (440 lb), measure as much as 120 cm (47 in) across, and have an average lifespan in the wild of over 100 years.

They are also found off the shores of the Philippines, where they are called “taklobo”, and in the South China Sea in the coral reefs of Sabah (Malaysian Borneo). Tridacna gigas lives in flat coral sand or broken coral and can be found at depths of as much as 20m (66 ft).

Its range covers the Indo-Pacific, but populations are diminishing quickly and the giant clam has become extinct in many areas where it was once common.