In the early days of clam collection prior to our involvement there,  there was a rush to get these incredible clams into the marketplace. Unfortunately this rush to supply the worldwide demand came at the expense of the clam's  health and long-term survival. Clams were randomly torn from rock damaging the delicate foot and then shipped dry from the remote islands to the holding facilities in Tahiti. Our collector came on the scene some time after the initial rush although he had been active in the initial permitting processes with the local goverment. He  was concerned about the situation and reputation of these beautiful animals and wanted to make a difference. He contacted us because we matched his business model with our focus on aquaculture and a commitment to our customers. And so we have worked closely with him to make some significant changes that have positively impacted the survivability of these clams.

While there are many atoll lagoons filled with clams in the Tuamotu group of islands, there is only one island that they are currently collected from, Reao. There are literally millions of clams in the lagoons surrounding this remote island and this is where we collect our clams. It was recently estimated by the local government that 38.8 million clams surround Reao. Most are situated on the sand and are attached to small piece of rock rubble so the collection in this area is easy and does not damage the clam. If you look up Reao on Google Earth you can see that it is an atoll, in other words a ribbon of an island with a central lagoon. Clams are what mostly form the island and surround the island inside the lagoon and outside too. There is a very small polulation living on Reao, including our collector and we have a small facility there to house the collected clams prior to shipping them to our main facility on Tahiti were the clams are quarantined for 2 weeks prior to shipping to us here in the US.