iego-based seafood distributor, Catalina Offshore Products, is now offering chocolate and blood clams in the U.S.According to Catalina Offshore, until recently, export regulations made highly sought-after chocolate clams almost impossible to find outside of Baja. Blood clams, considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, have also proven hard to come by. Due to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration re-opening shellfish exports from Mexico, Catalina Offshore is now among a small handful of distributors bringing both clam species to the U.S.
Chocolate clams (Megapitaria squalida) are harvested in and around in Mexico in all coastal lagoons from Magdalena Bay south along the Pacific side of Baja, throughout the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland to Guatemala where they colonize in sandy bottoms in very large, dense populations.
Harvested along mangroves, Baja's blood clams (Anadara tuberculosa) are closely related to East Coast blood clams; however, their consistently larger size (almost one-half pound each) makes the West Coast species more desirable. Characterized by the blood red color of their liquor, blood clams are also known in Baja as mangrove cockles and black clams, or concha negra. Their dark, meaty flesh offers a rich, briny, sweet mollusk flavor with a firm, chewy texture.
“This is the first time wild clams have been permitted to cross from Mexico to the U.S. since the 1940s,” said Dave Rudie, Catalina Offshore CEO. “The FDA has been working closely with Mexican authorities to make sure all proper testing and procedures are being followed to ensure a product that is safe for consumption.”
Earlier this year Catalina Offshore also debuted a new Baja farmed yellowtail.
