Geoduck, the long-necked clam native to the Pacific Northwest and a delicacy in China and Southeast Asia, is one of the many victims of the U.S.-China trade war, according to a Seattle Times report.
The U.S. state of Washington earns millions of dollars every year by selling geoduck harvesting rights, and the state brings in around five million pounds every year. However, the price for the clam, known as the elephant-trunk clam in Chinese, has cooled to just USD 6.11 (EUR 5.50) per pound last month. It hit a high of USD 17.70 (EUR 15.93) per pound in late 2011.
Because geoduck from British Columbia are exempt from the 35 percent retaliatory tariffs China has imposed on the import of much American seafood, many geoduck are being sourced from America’s northerly neighbor instead.
Washington state manages the geoduck market jointly with Puget Sound Native American tribes and brought in almost USD 28 million (EUR 25.20 million) in 2017. This year, however, the revenues from the geoduck harvest are expected to drop to under USD 17 million (EUR 15.30 million). The state’s geoduck proceeds go to salmon restoration efforts and the downturn comes at a particularly bad time for the state, as its salmon fishery has been struggling.
“Geoduck was one of our main sources of revenue, and it’s definitely had a big impact,” Suquamish Seafood Enterprises marketing manager Andrew George said. For native tribes, the revenue helps to fund tribal programs.
While the tariffs have driven down the market, Chinese customers are beginning to turn to other seafood luxury products, such as king crab from Russia. As a result, many shellfish harvesters are trying to find American buyers for geoduck, especially ones which are not as aesthetically pleasing as Chinese buyers are influenced heavily by how the clams look on the outside.
Photo courtesy of I. Ploy Doy/Shutterstock
