Shells as Ornaments

Perhaps the simplest way to market giant clam shells is as ornaments or curios. With this approach, the shells are sold “as themselves” with no processing or value-adding steps beyond cleaning. Sometimes even the cleaning is omitted. In general, though, investing the effort to whiten the shells either through sun drying or chemical bleaching with Clorox is worthwhile. Wrapping the shell pairs with a ribbon and adding a sticker are two additional steps that cost little and are definitely cost-effective in that they allow a higher retail price.

In the early 1990s, MMDC sold thousands of giant clam shells as ornaments, primarily T. derasa (Figure 14) and H. hippopus (Figure 15). The T. derasa, most of which were 15 to 30 centimeters in shell length, were sun-dried, chemically bleached and sold for $5 to $10 per matched pair. Each T. derasa pair was wrapped with a colorful ribbon (Figure 16) to hold the shells together, and to each ribbon was affixed a small pink sticker stating that the specimen was a giant clam shell captive-bred at the MMDC in Palau.

H. hippopus and T. squamosa shells sold by MMDC as ornaments underwent both the chemical bleaching and the acid dip prior to sale. These shells proved extremely popular as ornaments. Three sizes were sold: 5-centimeter shells for $3 per pair, 10-centimeter shells for $5 per pair, and 12- to 14-centimeter shells for $8 per pair. Beyond cleaning, the only processing used on these shells was adding a few drops of hot glue to the hinge area of the shell valves to keep them from falling apart on the gift shop shelves. A small gold sticker, available from Hydro-Gardens, Inc., identifying the product as a captive bred giant clam shell from Palau's MMDC was placed on the base of each shell pair.

In visiting clam farms around the Pacific, we were surprised to find that some operators were not marketing their empty shells even as ornaments. The farmers were losing potential revenue on a daily basis, probably without even realizing it! Setting up a simple table and putting shells with price tags on the table takes very little effort. This is the simplest way to turn clam shells to cash.