The Market for Giant Clams as Aquarium Specimens in Sydney and Melbourne: Results of a Telephone Survey of Retail Outlets

During 1991 research based on the test-marketing of giant clams as aquarium species was conducted in Brisbane, Queensland. The results indicated giant clams to be potentially popular as aquarium specimens, being considered to be on a par with coral and anemones. However, the marketability of giant clams in Queensland was dampened by the requirements of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, which compelled both retailers and customers to obtain permits to hold clams. Permits for retailers were expensive; being $100 per aquarium, and those for customers required a time-consuming application process. The results of this test-marketing are reported in Economics of Giant Clam Mariculture, Research Report or Paper No. 26. For comparison with Brisbane .results, a telephone survey was conducted in Sydney and Melbourne, the capital cities of the two most populous states of Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. Insufficient resources were available to adopt test-marketing 1n those cities. The results of these surveys support the conclusions of the first, that a small but viable market exists for giant clams as aquarium specimens throughout Australia. Profit margins for retailing of clams in Sydney and Melbourne seem to be higher than in Queensland, partly due to the absence of Queensland's expensive permit requirements. Other differences are also noted. The economic experience of two retailers in Sydney and Melbourne selling farmed giant clams in relatively large quantities is encouraging