BINH THUAN – After Tet, scallops appeared in many areas of Mui Ne. Every day, each boat was beaten from 300 kg to half a ton and brought to the shore for sale.
In recent days, the rake ships continuously docked at the yard behind Mui Ne and sold scallops to traders. Along Bo De wharf, when dawn comes, the atmosphere of buying and selling seafood becomes bustling.
On the morning of March 1, Mr. Huynh Quang’s boat stopped at the dock to bring 400 kg of scallops to the shore. Scallops are available in large plastic bags, 10-12 kg each. Two days ago, he and his friends sailed out to sea. Arriving at the oyster beach 10 nautical miles (about 18 km) from the shore, his boat (eight people) dropped the fishing nets all night, until 6 am back to shore.
He sells clams at the wharf for 8,000 VND per kilogram, earning 3.2 million. “Scallops are appearing thick, today 4 quintals, day 5-6 quintals, we can eat very well. Except for costs, each person earns about 600,000-700,000 VND a day”, Mr. Quang cheerfully.
Besides, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan’s boat has just landed. Nearly 300 kg of scallops that he beat in the night were still fresh. The ones are on the top, the two shells are still flipped up and down.
Mr. Tuan said that this year scallops appeared more in mid-January when the Bac wind was still blowing, usually in previous years, in the southern monsoon season (from June to August of lunar calendar), there were many types of these scallops. “The price is a bit cheap, but the clam is hit, the brothers are still happy because they have a good income after Tet”, Mr. Tuan said.
Scallops are being bought at the wharf for 8,000-10,000 VND per kg, depending on the type of size. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ba, who collects scallops, said this time, the quantity of scallops entering the wharf was too much, the consumption was not in time, so the price was half cheaper than before Tet. “Normally this scallop costs 20,000-30,000 VND per kilogram,” Ms. Ba said.
Currently, every day, fishermen in Mui Ne bring more than a dozen tons of scallops to the shore. Ba Ba as well as other traders buy at the wharf and then take away termites for restaurants and eateries in Phan Thiet. A number of others are sold by carts to dealers in Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City.
Scallops are a specialty of Mui Ne beach, can do many dishes such as: grilled scallops, scallops steamed with salt and lemon pepper, fried scallops with chives, scallop porridge … All seafood in Phan Thiet has this seafood dish to serve customers when they come here.