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It's alive. Or if an oyster, clam or mussel doesn't open when it's cooked, sometimes it's dead — killed in the cooking process — but the muscle is just so joined to the shell that it's not letting go.”
Subsequently, one may also ask, will a clam die if you open it?
Clams are exceedingly perishable; there is no length of time after they are dead that you should eat them. They should always be killed as part of the cooking process. They may open (they are naturally filter feeders, and open to try and feed and respire), but if tapped should close indicating they are still alive.
Herein, do clams die when you take the Pearl?
Harvesting a pearl does NOT kill the oyster, and Pearl Farming is very much a 'sustainable' practice. Not only does removing a pearl not kill the oyster that produced it, Pearl Farmers are extremely careful not to harm their oysters… In fact, pearl farmers typically use surgical-style instruments to harvest pearls.
So, the simple answer of whether pearl farms kill the oyster is.. yes. The mussel meat is then eaten and the shell is repurposed into mother of pearl inlay and other decorative accessories. If you see an oyster that has been completely opened like this, there is no way it will survive.