That one in the photo was steamed --- you can just put them on a bed of hot
coals and they cook in their own juices --- when they pop open they're
ready. Delicious, too. But you have to be wary of paralytic shellfish
poisoning which comes from a sea-algea.
Sadly, Canadian DFO is unreliable in regards to their psp closures --- due
to budget cuts they under-sample and over-close, so unless you want to
simply never eat bivalves, you have to experiment on your own, just try a
tiny bit, wait for symptoms, try a slightly larger bit, etc.
Another unfortunate thing is the proliferation of captive salmon
feedlots --- they contaminate the bivalves for hactares, smell bad, drown
sealions and seals and eagles, and spread parasites like sea lice to wild
salmon. Captive bird feedlots like turkey or chicken farmers wouldnt dream
of putting their feedlots where their stock could mix with wild birds
because of disease considerations --- yet slamon feedlots are right in the
open and even use nightlights (for marginally faster growth rates) that
attract the wild fish right into the cages. Where fish farms are wild
salmon have died off, like Barkley Sound --- there are no wild salmon at all
there now, because of fish farms. Thats how 'For Sale' our BC government
is. I'm ashamed of these guys.