Harvesting Giant Clams is an offence in Sabah

Daily Express 12 Sep 08;

Kota Kinabalu: Harvesting Giant Clams is a punishable offence under the Sabah Fishery Act, 1984, unless amendments have been made since and which the public may not be aware of.

Gaint Clams are also listed under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) which prohibits their import and export on condition.

Former head of the Fisheries Department's Resource Management Section, Alvin Wong, said it is an offence irrespective of whether the act was committed within or outside Sabah's marine parks.

He said this much is also stated clearly in the Fisheries (Control of Endangered Species of Fish) Regulation 1999, of the State Agriculture Ministry's report on the various regulations, accessed on the Internet.

The act (harvesting Giant clams) has been equated to fish bombing whether committed inside or outside Sabah's marine parks. It reads:

"This regulation lists all the species of fish and mammals that are protected, and includes the dugong, whale, dolphin, whale shark and Giant Clams which are included in the list of endangered species in the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).

"It is an offence to fish for, harass, catch, kill, possess, sell, buy, export or transport any endangered species in this regulation. Any of the listed endangered fish caught unintentionally shall be released immediately or disposed of as directed by Fisheries Officer.'

The CITES' latest list on Tridacnidae can be verified at its website www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml.

Tridacnidae are a global family of bivalves which has eight species in total under two genera, namely Hippopus ( 2species) and Tridacna (6 species).

In other words, all eight species of Giant clams are on CITES' list, under Appendix 2, meaning trade of Giant clams is prohibited unless they are third generation animals raised in farms.

Only if any private enterprise in Sabah can propagate third generation Giant clams in farms, then they are not banned from trade.

But two of Sabah's seven wild species, including the biggest of them all - Tridacna gigas (which can measure up to 4.6ft long) have gone locally extinct, the other being Tridacna derasa, noted aquatic biologist Alvin Wong, now Director of Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC), Gayana Eco-Research on Gaya Island.

The resort is one of few known to be propagating Giant Clams as part of their conservation efforts.

Based on the front page picture of shell carcasses published in Daily Express on Sept. 10, Wong identified them as members of Tridacna squamosa species, "which may well be the next species to go extinct in Sabah".

If this happens, it would be a blot on the reputation of Sabah as being part of the Indo-Pacific region which is rated as the "Centre of Global Marine Biodiversity in the World."

Wong was saddened to see such a pile of big Giant clams of the Tridacna squamosa species being slaughtered for just a meal or two on Timbun Mata Island, off Semporna.

"They are probably 12-inch specimens aged around 15 years or more," he said.

"That is big. We in MERC know that to develop to this size is long and difficult because we started spawning Giant Clams in April this year and they were just 1 cm long five months later."

"The ones depicted on your front page picture measure probably 12 inches long aged 15 or more years but are capable of a maximum of 18 inches," Wong said.

"It takes so long to become that big and then it's all gone in one day. What a shame," lamented Wong, whose former job involved issuing Import and Export permits for fish and fishery products in addition to issuance of Fishing Licence.

"As far as I know, the Department does not license anyone to collect Giant clams. Permits may be issued to applicants to collect clams, but it would always say 'except Giant clams'.

"So people who collect Giant clams are fishing without licence and that is an offence. I know because I have issued such licences myself," Wong recalled.

Pressed by spokeswoman for MREC Nilakrisna James if anyone can get a licence to harvest it, Wong replied: "No you can't. So when they collect Giant clams, they are unlicensed."

Sabah Fisheries Department's legal position is actually in tandem with a "global concern" of imminent extinction facing Giant clams, Wong said.

"This is a credit to them, it reflects their support for CITES of which Malaysia is a signatory," he said.

"Giant clams are also listed under IUCN Red list, meaning its status is classified 'Vulnerable.'

"So this is a concern shared by everyone else," Wong said, besides being an asset for diving tourism.

Zero Parks enforcement?
Daily Express 10 Sep 08;

Large Giant clams facing extinction are being caught and eaten by seaweed workers inside the Tun Sakaran Dandai Marine Park, Daily Express can reveal.Their activities come as a surprise because only a year ago, a Darwin Initiative community project in the marine park said there were essentially no more Giant clams left except one or two belonging to a private owner.

This begs the question of whether the Parks personnel keep an eye on activities in the area. For if there are even at least daily patrols, such activities would not take place.

Tourists making a special trip to see scenic Pulau Timbun Mata on Aug. 20 said they were shocked to see shells of tens of big giant clams left to sun on a catwalk leading to a workers' quarters.

Their size indicates they were about 40-50 years old when caught. Clams about 50 yrs are known to grow up to four feet.

Timbun Mata, 26km long and 10km wide at its widest, constitutes part of the Tun Sakaran Dandai marine park that forms part and parcel of the famed centre of global marine biodiversity.

A group of seaweed investors who initially broke into the area claiming to be green with backing from Japanese partners had since brought in a few hundred workers who are destroying the corals and picking up the giant clams to eat, claimed a Semporna resident.

"It is damaging because they use ropes to hang the seaweed and every rope must be fixed to an anchor on the seabed including corals," the witness alleged.

"In that process, the workers are collecting whatever they can find on the reefs - giant clams, grouper, sea cucumbers," he claimed.

"That's not the only problem. Planting seaweed over a reef will impede photosynthesis which corals depend on for their health and survival," he pointed out.

A potentially alarming part of the saga is that the ravaging process may expand up to 10,000 acres if the project completes its course.

"In the first place, we don't understand why a marine park should open a huge area for cultivation of seaweed. It seems that those paid to protect Sabah's marine biodiversity areÉ well, not protecting anything!" the local resident who requested anonymity fumed.

Giant clams deserve vigilant protection first and foremost because they help maintain high sea water quality by absorbing nitrates, ammonia and other organics that are harmful to sensitive reef inhabitants even in very low concentration.

They are filter feeders, meaning they shift planktonic debris from the water for food, which therefore improves the overall water quality.

Beside, few if any reef species match the wide range of vibrant colours from electric hues to blue and violet found in the mantles of a total of eight species of Giant clams in the world.

The spectacular colours on the mantle come from the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae which is literally the Gaint clam's powerhouse which generates its own energy by photosynthesis, in addition to filter feeding!

Giant clams are the world's largest bivalve mollusk.

True Giant clam, Tridacna gigas, for instance, are known to reach 1.4m (4.6ft) in length, weigh up to 260 kg and live over 100 years!

As an integral part of the reef serving as nurseries for a host of fish, invertebrates, shrimps while sedentary organisms like sponges, corals, algae find Giant clam shells perfect substrates for attachment.

Meanwhile, the history of Timbun Mata suggest it was inhabited before records kept. Several villages go back at least several hundred years, such as Mantandak to the west, Lakai Lakaito the north, Dap Dap to the northeast, Kubar to the east, followed by illegal settlements.

Timbun Mata was classified a "Forest reserve" as early as 1930 but planting of teak went as far back to 1880.

However, like most if not all forest reserves in Sabah, illegal loggers had made inroads into Timbun Matawith impunity and reduced in considerably because of deficiency in protection.

Depletion of both forests and marine life is set to get worse as seaweed farm owners, besides allowing their workers to take sea products, had also been cutting trees from the reserve forests to construct their facilities, the Semporna resident alleged.

Being 26km long and 10km wide makes it the largest island on the south side of Darvel Bay. It is mountainous and was densely wooded before 2000.

In terms of beauty, geological drama and name, it has something that smacks of Mt Kinabalu.

Located right at the centre of the island is a conical shaped extinct volcanic which by no surprise is also Timbum Mata's highest peak - Mt. Tanabalu which soars 620m!

For geological buffs, Mt Tanabalu stands as a vivid reminder of Semporna and Darvel Bay's violent volcanic past about 5 million years ago, the same explosive process that e created the towering volcanic rims of Bodgaya (Sleeping Old Man) 15km off Semporna town.

A secondary peak named Mt Sedungal at the east end rises to 489m.

The south side of Timbun Mata is separated from the mainland by a shallow channel known as Trusan Sigalog.