HA TINH – People of Cam Xuyen district flocked to Cam Nhuong beach to pick up purple clams that had washed ashore, and caught tons of them to make food and sell to traders.
On the morning of September 16, along the coast for more than a kilometer through Chua village, Cam Nhuong commune, tons of purple clams (local people call them clams) were washed ashore by large waves. Most of the cockles were dead, their mouths were open, many had their intestines blown out and piled up in small piles, 2-5 cm thick.
About 50-60 people inside and outside Cam Nhuong commune brought baskets, rackets, nets, and sacks to the sea to pick up live fish.
Holding a large bag along the beach, Mr. Nguyen Van Tam, 57 years old, residing in Cam Linh commune, bent down every few seconds to pick up clams lying piled up or mixed in the sand. “Purple clams live about 10 nautical miles from the coast, usually appearing in the beginning and middle of the year. These days the weather is bad, maybe the sea is rough, the tide changes and the clams drift in,” Mr. Tam said.
50 meters from where Mr. Tam stood, a number of young people and middle-aged men immersed themselves in the sea more than half a meter deep, using net nets with handles nearly two meters long, continuously swinging the nets between the waves to catch clams. Every 5-10 minutes, they pull a batch.
On average, from morning to noon, one person picks up about 30 kg of oysters. Some families with large staff caught nearly a quintal. People consider this a “sea fortune” so they call all members to go to the sea to collect and fish near the shore to earn more income.
Purple clams sell for 20,000 VND per kg. In addition to importing to traders right on the coast, many people take it back to store it as food or pre-process it, take the intestines and bring it to retail markets in the area. This type of seafood can be steamed, cooked in porridge, stir-fried with lemongrass, grilled with onion…
“In the morning I earned more than 500,000 VND selling clams. Some other families caught more than 100 kg and made millions, everyone was excited,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, 55 years old, residing in Cam Nhuong commune.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Chairman of Cam Nhuong commune, purple clams washed ashore is a rare phenomenon, recently appearing in the area twice, last week and today. It is estimated that there are tons of oysters, on average each person catches about 40 kg, and then selects 10-20 kg. By this afternoon, the oysters were no longer drifting, only a few people were left to pick them up.
“Previously, every time rough seas or after storms, only feather clams washed ashore, purple clams were recorded for the first time. In addition to living in the wild, some people in the district also raise purple clams,” Mr. Hung said.
Expert agencies say that after storms, floods and low pressure, many species of seafood are often washed ashore… Ha Tinh has had heavy rain for the last three days, especially in the waters of Cam Xuyen district, the weather is bad, there are big waves, level 7 wind gusts.
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)