The <u>main clause</u> in the sentence <em>The clams, which he ate, were still fresh</em> is The clams were still fresh.
The<u> subordinate clause</u>, that is which he ate, is used as an adjective, since it comes after the noun and motifies it. This type of clauses are usually introduced by words like <em>that</em>, <em>when</em>, <em>where</em>, which, etc. and separated by commas whenever it is a non-defining clause.