In one of the biggest operations of its kind in the country, 80 tonnes of the tropical species were discovered in a village on a remote island in the western archipelago of Palawan, officials said Friday.
Conservationists say their shells are used as an alternative material for products ranging from earrings to chandeliers as ivory becomes scarce amid a global crackdown on the illegal trade in elephant tusks. Among them was the Tridacna gigas, the world's largest clam, which can grow a shell up to 1.4 metres long.The island's village chief will be charged with poaching for supervising the illegal collection, said Jovic Fabello, spokesman for the Palawan government's conservation council.It likely took the locals between six months and a year to amass the 80-tonne pile, a coastguard spokeswoman told AFP.
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