Nghe An fishermen "hunt" for pearl snails and earn millions of dong every day
(Baonghean.vn) - Fishermen in Quynh Luu district (Nghe An) are currently focusing on catching tons of beaded snails every day, selling them for millions of dong. In addition to the delicious, nutritious food that is popular, the shell of the beaded snail is also sold to dealers to make jewelry.
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| Pearl snails are currently priced at 10,000 VND/kg, if the intestines are removed the price will be up to 80,000 VND/kg. Photo by Le Gam. |
The time after Tet is the time for fishermen in Quynh Luu coastal area to go to the beach to hunt for specialties such as clams, oysters... hidden under the sand when the tide is low. In particular, recently, there have been a lot of pearl snails appearing, so people in Quynh Luong commune are focusing on finding and catching them.
Mr. Nguyen Van Ninh - a fisherman in Quynh Luong commune said: "In recent years, the pearl snails have appeared less often than before. If they are in season, they usually appear from January to April of the lunar calendar. A few days ago, we intended to bring tools to hunt for clams but discovered pearl snails and switched to hunting for snails until today."
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| People in Quynh Luu coastal area go to the sea to hunt for pearl shells. Photo by Le Gam. |
According to Mr. Ninh, the tools for hunting pearl oysters are similar to those for hunting sea clams; there must be a thin layer of metal attached to two bamboo poles, covered with a thick layer of mesh on the outside. When going to the beach, people often hold the two ends of the poles and rake hard on the sand to find them, and the pearl oysters will fall into the mesh.
“After a day of wading in the sea to hunt, we scooped up more than 2 tons of pearl snails, this type of snail is often sold to restaurants and pubs in Vinh city; each 1 kg costs about 10,000 VND; like today we also earned more than 2 million VND” - Anh Ninh shared.
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| After nearly a day of hunting, Mr. Nguyen Van Ninh in Quynh Luong commune (Quynh Luu) caught more than 2 tons of pearl snails, worth more than 2 million VND. Photo by Viet Hung. |
Pearl snails, also known as rice snails, are only as small as chopsticks and only appear after Tet. When cooked, this type of snail has a delicious, fatty flavor and is loved by many people.
This is also a very popular coastal specialty because it is easy to prepare and nutritious; the snail's intestines are often fried with lemongrass, chili, and lime leaves and served with ice cakes. This snack is very suitable for the summer.
If the shells are removed, the price can reach up to 80,000 VND/kg. Not only used for food, the shells are also sold to jewelry dealers after removing the shells and intestines.
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| Snail intestines are fried with lemongrass, chili, and lime leaves and served with rice paper, suitable for summer days. Photo by Viet Hung |
Knowing that there are pearl shells in the Quynh Luong sea area (Quynh Luu), some people from Thanh Hoa traveled nearly a hundred kilometers to hunt for them.
Mr. Le Cong Quy in Tinh Gia district, Thanh Hoa said: "After Tet until now, the three of us have gone to the coastal communes of Nghe An and Ha Tinh to hunt for pearl snails. Every day we dig under the sea, we catch more than 3 tons. All of these pearl snails will have their intestines removed and sold to restaurants and pubs; the shells will be imported to some agents to buy and make jewelry."