Artificial method to help cockles spawn

Dwindling numbers: Dr Tan showing the cockles graph in Malaysia at her office in USM.

GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia should attempt artificial spawning to address the dwindling number of cockles, said marine biologist Associate Prof Dr Aileen Tan.

Dr Tan, from Universiti Sains Malay­sia (USM), said this had been done successfully before at the university which also has the skills for the task. They would collect cockles from areas where there used to be abundant molluscs.