Quynh Luu lost income from raising children with "miracle medicine"

Tan An village, An Hoa commune (Quynh Luu) is the place where most oysters are raised in the brackish water river in Quynh Luu. This profession has existed for a long time and thanks to oyster farming, many families have had a better life. However, at this time, dozens of oyster farming households are disappointed because of crop failure.

Due to crop failure, there are few people harvesting oysters on mangrove rivers. Photo: Viet Hung. Photo: Viet Hung

After Tet, Nguyen Thi Linh's family went to the river to harvest oysters. In previous years, each time they went to the raft, they could scoop up and separate about 7-9 kg of oyster intestines, but now due to a bad harvest, they only get 3-4 kg; each harvest is 7-10 days apart.

"My family raises 5 rafts with more than 2,000 oyster strings. In good years, each raft brings in over 10 million VND in income. This year, not only my family but many households have no oysters to harvest. If they do, it's only a few kilograms at most," said Ms. Linh.

This year the oyster crop failed, each farming household only earned 2-3 million VND. Photo: Viet Hung

The whole An Hoa commune has about 40 households farming oysters with more than 200 rafts. Harvesting time is from February to May and from October to December; after removing the oyster intestines, people gather the oyster shells into bunches and then release them into the river. After 10 - 12 months of farming, they will be scooped up for further harvesting.

According to households, in the past 2 years, oyster farming has become difficult because of low productivity. Out of more than 40 farming households, only about 20 households have harvested but the yield is very low; on average, in one harvest, the largest households only get 2-3 kg of intestines.

Oysters are naturally farmed in mangrove rivers; harvest time is from February to May and from October to December. Photo: Viet Hung

Due to crop failure, oyster prices are currently at record highs, from 200,000 - 220,000 VND/kg, double that of previous years.

According to Mr. Le Xuan Quyet - Vice Chairman of An Hoa Commune People's Committee: The locality has many advantages to develop oyster farming. In recent times, households have invested in making sturdy rafts for farming. This profession does not require much investment, but if the season is good, the value is very high. However, entering this year's crop, the oyster harvest yield is low, not enough to supply the market. Through inspection and evaluation, the main reason for the oysters' low productivity is partly due to pollution from the water source. Along with that, the appearance of black mussels that stick to the oysters affects the growth of oysters, reducing both productivity and quality.

"Faced with the above situation, the locality has encouraged people to continue with the profession, have a plan to handle black mussels, and at the same time change farming methods to achieve better results," added Mr. Le Xuan Quyet.

Due to crop failure, oyster prices have reached a record high of 200,000 - 220,000 VND/kg. Photo: Viet Hung

While the oyster crop is failing, many coastal communes in Quynh Luu are actively going to the mangrove rivers and beaches to hunt for wild oysters. Oysters have special nutritional value for men's health, good for the heart, physiology, blood circulation... so they are considered a nutritious medicine, many people also call oysters a "miracle drug".