Oysters in Nghe An reach record price

Originally living along the Mo River, people in Tan An village, An Hoa commune make rafts to raise oysters. After Tet, people here start harvesting oysters after more than 10 months of farming.

Quynh Luu people harvest oysters. Photo: Viet Hung

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, an oyster farmer, said that after Tet, her family rowed a boat out to the river to “scoop” each string of oysters to sell. In previous years, each oyster raft pulled up had a good yield, but this year many households have had a bad oyster crop.

“My family raises two oyster rafts. In good years, each time we scoop up the oysters and remove the intestines, we get 15-20 kg. However, this year, the yield is less than half of last year’s. However, the price of oysters is the highest ever. The price of oysters removed from the intestines is from 180,000 to 200,000 VND/kg, twice as high as last year,” said Ms. Huong.

People remove oyster intestines. Photo: Viet Hung

Although the price is high, because this is a specialty with high nutritional value, customers are still willing to buy it.

Sea oysters are easy to raise in river mouths and estuaries; after removing the intestines, people continue to take the shells and string them into bunches and continue to release them under rafts. After 10-12 months, people row boats to scoop up the oysters. In good years, each farming household usually has an income of 10-15 million VND/crop.

Oysters are shelled to get their intestines. Photo: Viet Hung

Due to the characteristics of living in the area bordering river mouths and sea mouths, there are hundreds of households in Quynh Luu raising oysters. Thanks to the development of this profession, the people's lives have been improved.

Due to crop failure, oyster intestines are priced at 180,000 - 200,000 VND/kg, double the price of previous years. Photo: VH

Oysters are a type of seafood that has special nutritional value for men's health, good for the heart, physiology, blood circulation, muscles... so they are considered a nutritious medicine, many men also call oysters "miracle medicine". Oysters can be eaten raw or cooked, can be grilled, cooked into porridge, soup for nourishment...