TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Fisheries Research Institute has developed a new method to improve clam farming as part of efforts to help the sector reduce the impact of climate change, CNA reported.
The method mainly involves adjusting the number of clams stocked and shortening farming cycles to reduce environmental impacts. Last year, the institute tested the method in a clam farming area in Yunlin.
During the trial, which went through summer heat, the plum rain season, and typhoons, more than 60% of the clams survived, 10% higher than under conventional farming methods. The new method could also increase farmers’ income by about NT$150,000 (US$4,700) per hectare, the institute said.
Taiwan’s clam farming uses hatcheries to breed juvenile clams, which are then sent to farms to grow until harvest. The institute has extended the time clams are raised in hatcheries before being transferred to farms, helping shorten the grow-out period from up to 15 months to about six months.
The institute said clam mortality in Taiwan’s aquaculture sector has been rising. It attributed the increase to worsening water quality and seabed conditions in farming ponds, noting that deaths are more severe during periods of high temperatures and heavy rainfall.
Lin Chih-hsun (林志訓), a researcher at the institute, said rising water temperatures increase levels of organic matter and ammonia in ponds. Once some clams in a pond die, bacteria can quickly spread to healthy clams, leading to significant losses.
The institute said it plans to expand the method to Changhua and Chiayi, which are also major clam farming areas in Taiwan. Yunlin accounts for nearly 60% of production nationwide.
In August 2025, the institute worked with National Taiwan Ocean University to discover a new clam species in Taiwan waters, named the “Formosa clam.” The species has stronger disease resistance and is expected to become a new aquaculture variety.
