ON A past visit to the little fishing port of Tanmen, on the island-province of Hainan in southern China, pigs were being driven onto the foredecks of wooden trawlers, while water butts were being lashed down at the stern. Farther down the quay, similar boats were about to unload their catch after a month at sea: not fish but giant clams, Tridacna gigas, up to a metre across, which required two or even four men to carry. The bivalves spilled out of the holds. Giant clams are one of Buddhism’s “seven treasures”, along with gold and lapis lazuli. China’s new rich prize their shells as showy ornaments. Each can fetch as much as $3,000, so each haul was worth a fortune. And it was all illegal.
Nowadays Tanmen is transformed. The harbour is still crammed with fishing boats—calling on the spirit world for luck, one exuberant crew let off strings of firecrackers and threw joss paper up in the air as their vessel steamed out of the harbour. But the clam boats have gone, and some of the piratical air too. The quay has had a makeover, with new awnings under which fishermen’s wives grill squid for day-tripping tourists. “It’s over,” one of the women...Continue reading
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