Photo Credit: Worawut Koedprang (Thailand)
Review: Worawut Koedprang and Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
Blood cockle contributes by about 80,000 tons in Thai aquaculture and represents close to 13% of total coastal aquaculture in Thailand in 2013. The culture of a local species of cockle, Anadara nodifera, began in Thailand since more than 100 years ago in Phetchaburi Province. For very many years, the collection of cockle spats of 0.3-0.5 g average size from natural settling grounds was the sole source of seeds required for culture.
Because cockles are highly favored in Thailand and the production of the native cockle (A. nodifera) could not meet the local demand, cockle farmers imported the spats of Anadara granosa from Malaysia beginning in 1973 to overcome the shortage of natural supply of spat and to promote the cockle farming which has developed considerably in places such as Satun, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Surat Thani. The blood cockle is usually reared close to the shore in estuarine areas with fine mud at the depths of 0.5-1 m. The cultivated area should not be exposed above sea level for more than 2-3 hours during low tide. The culture period is about two years to reach the marketable size of 14-17 grams. The photo shows manual grading of harvested blood cockle.
