Quynh Luu: Overcoming the consequences of mass deaths of farmed clams

(Baonghean.vn) - In recent days, in the commercial clam farming area of ​​Quynh Luu district, dozens of households are concentrating their manpower on the beach to collect clam shells and treat the environment after many clam farming areas died en masse, floating white on the shore.

Present at the clam farming area of ​​Son Hai commune, one of the localities with the largest clam farming area in the district, many people gathered to collect dead clam shells floating on the beach. Mr. Dong Nhu Nguyen - one of the households with dead clam farming area, was with workers going down to the beach to pick up each clam shell to bring to shore. Nearly 2.3 hectares of commercial clams of his family were about to be harvested when they suddenly died en masse.

Picking up each dead clam shell, Mr. Nguyen felt extremely sad because all his efforts and capital were poured into this clam farm.

Mr. Nguyen said: On July 1, I discovered clams floating on the sand, then their shells burst and they gradually died. By July 3, the entire area of ​​commercial clams and clam seeds had died en masse, floating white on the sand. The estimated damage was about 700-800 million VND.

Some workers are paid 13 thousand VND/hour to pick clam shells.

After the clams died and lay all over the sand, to quickly overcome the consequences, he hired 6 people to go down to the beach to pick up clam shells, clean the breeding ground, and add lime to treat the pollution to continue reproducing. "To overcome the consequences of the clams dying, I hired 6 workers to pick up the shells, used machines to agitate the residue deep in the beach, and used disinfectants to clean the beach to continue releasing the seeds. This is the first time in 12 years of clam farming that this phenomenon has occurred. Earlier this year, my family also suffered a loss of over 500 million VND, and this second time the loss was more severe. The family now has to borrow money to start production again from the beginning. I hope the government will have a policy to support people to reproduce" - Mr. Nguyen shared.

People pour dead clams into bags to transport them ashore.

In Son Hai commune, there are many other households in the same situation as Mr. Dong Nhu Nguyen's family. The whole commune currently has 15 households raising clams with a total area of ​​over 70 hectares. Many households have fallen into poverty when all the effort and capital spent waiting for the harvest day have now been lost. According to estimates, 1 hectare of clams will yield 30-40 tons/ha, with the current market price of 15-20 thousand VND/kg, 1 hectare will earn from 400-600 million. Therefore, in this period, the whole commune suffered a loss of about 3.5 billion VND.

Transport dead clams out of the beach for environmental treatment.

Immediately after receiving information about the death of local farmed clams, the commune's agricultural land officials and related departments went to the clam farms of households to grasp the situation and at the same time count the damage to report to superiors. In addition, the locality encouraged clam farmers to stabilize their mentality to overcome the consequences, clean up clam shells, and clean the farms.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Manh - Vice Chairman of Son Hai Commune People's Committee said: "Due to the prolonged hot weather, followed by heavy rain, the clams suffered heat shock and died en masse. We have established a team to inspect and handle the dead clams to avoid pollution."

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district, the whole district has about 104 hectares of dead clams concentrated in large clam farming areas such as Son Hai, Quynh Tho, Quynh Thuan, An Hoa. The most severely damaged localities are Son Hai and Quynh Tho communes. The cause of the mass clam deaths was determined to be due to prolonged hot weather. Faced with the above situation, Quynh Luu district and local authorities of the communes promptly encouraged people to quickly overcome the consequences, clean up clam shells, treat the environment to continue production. Clam farmers hope that the State will soon have a policy to support damage caused by natural disasters so that people can feel secure in production and economic development.

Viet Hung

Quynh Luu Radio and Television Station