Lyrate Hard Clams

Vietnam | Wild | MSC

Meretrix lyrata

Tracking Code W-MXL01DRH

Product Forms

Frozen

Product Types

Raw Whole Clams
Cooked Whole Clams
Cooked Meat

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Story of Origin

Our delicious bite-sized clams grow on tidal mud flats at the mouth of the Mekong River. Trần Thế Vinh belongs to the Đồng Tâm fishing cooperative that manages the Bến Tre clam area. Vinh’s family relies on the income from the clams he gathers by hand at low tide and sends to a local processing plant where they are washed and packed for export. Trần Thế Vinh and the 9,400 other community members follow strict harvesting rules while protecting nearby mangroves that are critical for keeping the clam’s ecosystem healthy.

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Trần Thế Vinh collects the clams on the mud flats during low tide.

During the harvest, community members come together to collect clams before sending them to the factory to be cleaned and packaged.

Community members monitor the mud flats to ensure that only registered local people harvest the clams.

The clams arrive at a local processing facility where they are hand sorted for quality.

The clams are rinsed thoroughly so that all of the sand is removed before being packaged.

Origin Profile

Type of Origin | Certification
Wild Caught | MSC
Country of Origin
Vietnam
Catch Area
Eastern Central Pacific | Mekong River Delta | FAO 71
Catch Method
Hand Rakes
Type of Operation
Small Scale Community Fishery
Country of Final Manufacturing and Packing
Vietnam

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Good to know

This wild clam fishery was the first in Asia to be MSC certified. In a triumph for the local government, eleven cooperatives collectively manage three large natural clam growing areas in Bến Tre Province. The entire community participates in the harvest of clams on the mud flats, collecting them in large bags and buckets. Community members are proud of their success and enjoy eating the clams they collect; the preferred method is to cook the clams in broth, serving them with a Vietnamese sauce made of chili salt and local limes, along with a beer poured over ice.