Clam harvesting in Xuan Dai Bay

Xuan Dai Bay in Song Cau town ( Phu Yen province) is famous for its many types of seafood such as crabs, oysters, clams… especially lobsters. Lobster farming is thriving here, earning the area the nickname "lobster capital." However, not everyone in Song Cau town becomes a millionaire; many people's livelihoods are tied to the work of collecting clams in Xuan Dai Bay when the tide recedes.

A view of Xuan Dai Bay

N GÓNG CON NƯỚC CẠN

Xuan Dai Bay is vast with water at high tide, while at low tide it reveals a wide, muddy sandbank hundreds of meters wide along the bay's shore. Along the inter-communal road in Xuan Phuong commune, Song Cau town, there is a bay area of ​​about 1 hectare. There, hundreds of people, mostly women, sit huddled together, lining up to rake for shellfish.

Their tools of the trade are quite simple, consisting of a rake, trowel, or small hoe, a plastic bucket, and a basket for collecting the clams. More professional clam gatherers use large, long-handled rakes and styrofoam containers to catch clams in deeper water areas.

Women are usually the ones who go clamming because, in addition to their housework, they take advantage of their free time and low tides to collect clams to earn extra income. Typically, their work starts from early morning until noon, or from early afternoon until evening, depending on the tide levels throughout the month.

Around midday, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa (47 years old, from Xuan Phuong commune) and her daughter were still scraping the sand with shovels to find clams. Clam harvesting is the main source of income for her family due to their difficult circumstances. Mrs. Thoa's husband, over 50 years old, has suffered from asthma for many years, making him unable to go to sea or do strenuous work. She has four children; her two eldest daughters are married and their lives are not very comfortable. Her two younger children are still in school, so the entire burden of earning a living falls on her shoulders.

Every day, besides her work as a hired laborer, Mrs. Thoa eagerly awaits the low tide so she can go to the lagoon to collect clams. Regardless of the freezing weather, Mrs. Thoa diligently sits and collects clams every day. She is usually the most persistent, arriving early and returning late, to earn a little extra money to support her husband and children.

"Most fishermen living in the Song Cau coastal area either buy fishing boats or invest in lobster farming. As for me, my family is struggling financially, so I don't have the capital to invest. Furthermore, my husband is ill and his health isn't suitable for those jobs. Therefore, my family's livelihood depends on harvesting shellfish and working for others," Mrs. Thoa confided.

Scallop stew is expensive because it's a specialty dish.

FROM FAMILY FOOD TO SPECIALTY DISHES

The "sò bung" clam, which closely resembles a regular clam, is found abundantly along the mudflats surrounding Cù Mông Lagoon and Xuân Đài Bay.

(Song Cau Town). When the north wind arrives, the clams are at their meatiest and sweetest, so people focus on harvesting this specialty. When the tide recedes, the lagoon dries up, revealing large mudflats that serve as habitats for many types of coastal seafood, including clams. At this time, some people go clamming, others collect snails.

Mud clams usually live right on the mud surface, so you only need to lightly rake the mud layer about 10 centimeters deep to find them. Young, experienced people go to deeper water areas to rake for larger clams and get more. Women and the elderly can usually only rake in shallow water areas, so the clams are smaller and fewer in number.

Experienced diggers usually choose less crowded areas, observing the muddy surface to find clam burrows and harvest the entire nest. If they rake into a large burrow, they'll catch a lot of clams. However, most locals here just rake indiscriminately, digging wherever they find them. "Sometimes we find burrows full of clams, and we can keep raking endlessly. But other times, we dig and dig and only find a few tiny clams; even a whole day's work isn't enough to earn a day's wages," Mrs. Thoa said.

Locals harvest scallops by scraping the mud from the surface.

According to residents of villages near Xuan Dai Bay, in the past they only harvested scallops to serve at family meals, or to add a variety of scallop dishes to meals when guests visited. But since scallops became a specialty, many traders have come to buy them to supply restaurants.

"Now that clams have become a specialty dish of Song Cau, people are taking advantage of the opportunity to harvest them to sell and earn extra income. After a morning, a mother and daughter can harvest about 15-20 kg of clams. At a price of 15,000 VND/kg, the two of them earn around 200,000-300,000 VND per day," said Mrs. Bay Dong (from Phu My village, Xuan Phuong commune), a clam harvester.

According to Ms. Bay Dong, after harvesting, the clams are bought directly by traders, with prices varying depending on the availability at the time. Ms. Bay Dong shared: "Previously, clam harvesting was mainly done by women, children, or the elderly, as the work wasn't very strenuous. Recently, due to the scarcity of clams, many young people have also taken advantage of the opportunity to harvest clams to earn extra income."

Traders buy it at around 15,000 VND/kg, but sell it to restaurant owners for usually double the price: 30,000 VND/kg, and even higher if it's processed into a specialty dish.

60,000 - 80,000 VND/kg. "After buying them, wash off the mud on the outside and soak them to let the clams release the mud inside before cooking. This type of clam is very delicious, so tourists really like it. Moreover, the price is also reasonable, so tourists often choose this dish at the restaurant," said a seafood restaurant owner in Song Cau town.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Vu (from Trung Trinh village, Xuan Phuong commune) said that when the sea is full of fish, almost only women and children go to collect scallops, while young men and women go to sea or fish around Cu Mong lagoon and Xuan Dai bay to make a living. "This year the sea is scarce, and there are very few fish in the lagoon, so I'm taking advantage of my free time to collect some scallops to sell. From morning until now, there have been so many people collecting scallops that I've only managed to collect about two baskets, just enough money for my wife to go to the market for the day," Mr. Vu confided.

TWO WATERFALLS, BUT PRESERVED

The lagoons and bays in Song Cau town are rich in aquatic life, especially famous for their delicious crabs, clams, and snails. This abundant aquatic resource provides a daily livelihood for the local people. Therefore, even though clams are a popular delicacy for tourists, the locals are always mindful to only harvest large clams, leaving the smaller ones to grow, reproduce, and replenish the population.

The local people's awareness of preserving this type of shellfish stems from the efforts of the local government and relevant agencies in Song Cau town to promote the harvesting of coastal aquatic products.

Mr. Phan Tran Van Huy, Chairman of the People's Committee of Song Cau Town, said: "We regularly educate the people about protecting the environment and aquatic resources, avoiding destructive fishing practices and overexploitation of aquatic species in Cu Mong Lagoon and Xuan Dai Bay. Through this, along with the people's awareness that conserving aquatic resources is also protecting their livelihoods, in recent years, aquatic species in Cu Mong Lagoon and Xuan Dai Bay have flourished again, especially crabs, various types of snails, and shellfish… Currently, besides lobster, these aquatic species have become specialties of Song Cau Town, contributing to providing employment for many people living around the lagoon."

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