The secret to earning hundreds of millions each year from seafood farming

(Baonghean.vn) - During the tourist season, seafood farming households in Quynh Luu earn hundreds of millions of dong thanks to their own secrets.

Ms. Ho Thi Hien is a restaurant owner at Quynh Nghia beach, Quynh Luu district, who has been raising and storing fresh seafood for more than 20 years to supply to restaurants.

She said: A delicious seafood dish depends largely on the freshness of the ingredients because only fresh seafood can retain many nutrients and sweetness. Dead seafood or frozen seafood for many days can lead to poisoning and allergies, so the need to keep fresh seafood is very high.

Automatic seawater supply system to change water and provide food from algae available in seawater for farmed seafood. Photo: Thanh Nhan

Currently, Ms. Hien’s family has 12 concrete and glass tanks to store and raise seafood. Each tank is equipped with an aeration system to create oxygen for the seafood to live. She raises many types of seafood such as grouper, crab, snail, mantis shrimp... and sells a lot. From this job, she earns more than 500 million VND per year, creating regular jobs for 5-7 workers.

"To do this job, you have to be diligent, hardworking, and know how to preserve the goods. If you don't know how to preserve, you will lose money because most seafood doesn't live long," said Ms. Hien.

Not only storing and raising seafood to serve restaurants, many households doing this job also aim at export markets to China, Laos, etc. Along with purchasing directly from fishermen and traders in the district, the establishments also purchase fresh seafood from all provinces from Da Nang onwards.

Each tank is equipped with an aeration system to create oxygen for the seafood to live. Photo: Thanh Nhan

Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue's facility at Lach Quen port, Quynh Thuan commune has 9 seafood tanks with a capacity of 300 kg each. According to Ms. Hue, to keep fresh seafood, it is necessary to invest synchronously from the factory to the tanks, aeration systems, and transportation vehicles. Currently, Ms. Hue's family has invested in a diverse farming system for various types of snails such as conch, sweet snail, crab, grouper... these are types of seafood with high value from 500,000 VND to millions of VND/kg.

"The most important thing in raising seafood is water. The water must be changed regularly and must be cold and saline." Not only do I supply seafood restaurants in the district and province, I also export to the Chinese market. Although the technique of raising seafood requires quite meticulousness, the economic efficiency is very high," said Ms. Hue.

Currently, seafood farms and snail farms cost 500,000 - 600,000 VND/kg. Photo: Thanh Nhan

Seafood species raised in Quynh Luu have high economic value such as conch (price about 1.3 - 1.5 million VND/kg), snail (price 500,000 VND/kg), crab (from 450,000 - 600,000 VND/kg), crab (price 1 - 1.5 million VND/kg), grouper (from 200g or more, price 500,000 VND/kg)...; depending on the time, the price may increase or decrease slightly. Thanks to this profession, many households in Quynh Luu have an income of several hundred million to billions of dong each year.

In Quynh Luu district, there are currently about 60 establishments purchasing and storing fresh seafood, mainly concentrated in the coastal communes of Quynh Long, Quynh Thuan, Quynh Nghia, Tien Thuy, Quynh Bang... The storage and farming of seafood mainly relies on the aeration system and ensures regular water changes to provide food sources such as algae available in seawater. Therefore, this profession does not incur food costs. However, seafood can only be stored for 5 - 10 days before it must be sold and processed, if left for too long, the seafood will die.

Seafood used for farming are mostly those with high economic value. Selecting fresh seafood before farming requires experience. Photo: Thanh Nhan

Mr. Vu Ngoc Chat - Chairman of the Quynh Long Commune Fisheries Association said: "The effectiveness of seafood farming and preservation is very large. For example, during the crab and snail fishing season, many boats can catch hundreds of kilograms of fish in just one trip. Thanks to this profession, the selling price of products is higher and the price is not reduced."

Raising live seafood requires high techniques because one dead fish can infect the others. With many years of experience, households have now promoted the effectiveness of the profession. Not only purchasing seafood, the facilities also invest in purchasing boats, fishing gear; purchasing products for boats to increase income for fishermen, contributing to the development of seafood exploitation.

Thanh Nhan