Nghe An fishermen 'pocket' millions of dong every day from exporting spiral snails
(Baonghean.vn) - In recent days, fishermen in Nghe An have entered the season of harvesting spiral snails. Each time they return to shore, dozens of tons of snails are packaged and exported, bringing in high income.
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| Fisherman Dien Ngoc's boat returns to port with a full hold of snails. Photo: Viet Hung |
Known as a place with a developed seafood exploitation industry, recently, in addition to going offshore to catch shrimp, fish, and squid, fishermen in Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich communes (Dien Chau) are also focusing on exploiting a type of snail called "spiral snail" (some places call it screw snail, nail snail).
At Lach Van fishing port (Dien Ngoc) on the morning of November 5, dozens of ships were docking, fishermen were busy transporting trays of spiral snails ashore.
Fisherman Nguyen Van Hung - owner of fishing boat NA 909.30 in Dien Ngoc commune said that for over a month now, local people have been focusing on exploiting spiral snails. With traders coming to the place to buy them on the same day, everyone on the boat is trying their best to make a living. Leaving the port the previous afternoon, the next morning the boat returned to shore with nearly 2 tons of spiral snails; after deducting expenses, each fisherman earned about 1 million VND.
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| Sorting snails before traders buy them. Photo: Viet Hung |
Nearby, fisherman Ho Khac Ngoc's fishing boat also brought back more than 2.5 tons of spiral snails. Because there were many types of seafood mixed with snails during the fishing process, when he returned to shore, he hired 5-7 workers to sort and pick spiral snails, then wash them and pack them into bags.
Mr. Ngoc said that this type of snail is located under the sea about 6 - 8 nautical miles from the mainland; it is currently in season so each boat can catch 1.5 - 2.5 tons of spiral snails in just one night. This type of snail is purchased by traders at the price of 4,000 VND/kg, then they package it and have a truck come to transport it for export to China.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien - a spiral snail buyer said: "Every day, we buy dozens of tons of spiral snails at Lach Van fishing port and some fish shops in Hoang Mai town. All seafood will be transported to the southern provinces and exported. It is known that in addition to being used to process into dishes with a rich taste of the sea and being sold at markets for 10,000 - 15,000 VND/kg, most of these snails are used to process food for lobsters.
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| Snails are packaged for export. Photo: Viet Hung |
Mr. Nguyen Viet Man - Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Ngoc Commune (Dien Chau) said that recently, the fishing atmosphere of local fishermen has been quite exciting, especially the spiral snail hunting profession. In the area of Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich communes, there are currently more than 70 boats exploiting this type of snail. People are very happy because all the snails caught are purchased, there is no backlog. Although the selling price is not high, with a large quantity, fishermen can earn millions of dong every day.
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| Spiral snails with sour tamarind sauce and steamed with lemongrass and ginger are a favorite dish of the people. Illustrative photo |