Nghe An specialty oysters have a bad harvest
(Baonghean.vn) - Never before has oyster farmers in Quynh Luu district and Hoang Mai town (Nghe An) been left empty-handed because their oysters were destroyed by mussels during the harvest season.
Present in the oyster farming area along the Mo River through Tan An village, An Hoa commune (Quynh Luu), it is harvest season but due to crop failure, the number of households with oysters to harvest is very small.
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| People in An Hoa commune (Quynh Luu) remove oyster intestines. Photo: Viet Hung |
Ms. Nguyen Thi Loc, an oyster farmer, said that each crop her family raises two oyster rafts on the river. Each raft has more than 650 oyster shells strung together in bunches and then released into the water. In previous years, after harvesting each raft, her family earned a net profit of 5-6 million VND. However, this crop, her family lost money because the oysters pulled up could not grow due to parasitic mussels.
“Mussels live parasitically on oyster shells, taking all the micronutrients in the water, preventing the oysters from growing. Many families invest tens of millions of dong in seeds to raise them, but when they harvest, they only have enough capital, and many households even lose everything,” said Ms. Loc.
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| Oyster intestines are also less developed. Photo: Viet Hung |
An Hoa currently has about 70 oyster farming households with more than 200 rafts released along the Mo River. Previously, before the mussel infestation, households raising 50-60 oyster rafts earned a net profit of 20-30 million VND/year. If harvested before and after Tet, the price of oysters would reach 180,000-200,000 VND/kg; however, at this time there are no oysters to sell.
In the oyster farming areas along the Quynh Lap, Quynh Phuong, and Mai Hung mangrove rivers (Hoang Mai town), the harvest has also failed due to parasitic mussels. Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung in Quynh Lap commune raises 5 normal oyster rafts, which yield over 1 ton of products each year. After deducting expenses for his family, his net profit is about 70 million VND. Due to the mussels destroying and parasitic on the oyster shells, his family's harvest this year has decreased significantly.
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| Oysters are raised by people in An Hoa commune on rafts. The oyster shells are surrounded by parasitic mussels, reducing the productivity of the farmed oysters. In the rafts, mussels appear densely around the oyster farming area. Photo: Viet Hung |
“When pulling up the oyster strings, the mussels cling tightly around the oyster shells, and such oysters are considered to have no intestines. Furthermore, in recent years, oyster farming has become more difficult due to polluted water sources, leading to low farming yields,” said Mr. Hung.
To deal with the mussel infestation, many oyster farmers in Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai town, in addition to raising oysters in the traditional way, have sought to purchase milk oysters from Thanh Hoa province. According to them, raising milk oysters can shorten the time from 12 months to 6-7 months for harvest, thereby reducing the risk of mussel infestation.
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| People raise milk oysters to shorten the farming time. Photo: Viet Hung |