KUALA JURU is one of the most productive mudflats for cockle farming in Peninsular Malaysia. It has been a major income source for the fishermen in the area since the 1970s, when other fishing activities were adversely affected by pollution from the manufacturing and electronic industries surrounding the village.

“The villagers on their own initiative decided to turn to farming cockles, which are more resistant than fish to chemical pollution. They have been doing this on a collective basis since July 1976 (ILO, 1986). Besides thriving easily and needing little or no maintenance, cockles are also cheap and they can provide a rich source of nutrients.” (Yap and Tan, 2008)

The harvesting and cleaning process of the cockles runs like an assembly line with every component critical in order to reap the best. “The boats go out daily to the concession area and collect cockles during the high tide period… As the boat slowly moves in a clockwise direction, the gatherer stands at the boat's starboard side and dredges the mud bottom with a cockle collector attached to a long pole. Every now and then, he lifts the dredge from the bottom, shakes it in the water to wash off the mud, pours the caught cockles onto the deck and then resumes dredging the bottom.” (Food and Agriculture Organization). 

At the landing site, the cockles are then put into rotation machines that have water constantly sprayed into it in order to filter out sediment and mud. Towards the end of the process, these cleaned cockles would be packed in large nylon sacks to be distributed to the local markets. View gallery below for slideshow of the process.

Unfortunately, even though the cockles are a resistant bunch, as much as “60 per cent of cockles harvested out from the coastal area off Kuala Sungai Juru are dead cockles due to water contamination and pollution compared to only 5 per cent dead cockles during the previous good times.” (Sungai Juru)

References

• Yap, C.K & Tan, S.G, Heavy metal pollution in the Juru River basin receiving industrial effluents: the need for biochemical and molecular studies in the edible cockles anadara granosa, Malaysian Applied Biology, 2008, Vol 32, Issue 2, pp 63-68
• Cockle culture in Kuala Juru, Penang, Malaysia (Small-scale aquaculture operations in the asean countries, Food and Agriculture Organization)
• The Pollution of Sungai Juru; its pollutants and effects (Sungai Juru, 07.11.09)

Related links

• Exploring into the heart of Kuala Juru fishing village (Criz Bon, 07.03.09)