A director of Quang Ninh is confident in exporting ocean oysters, a highly nutritious seafood thanks to this technology.

With a sharp mind, Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong (Lien Hoa commune, Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh province) has invested in modern technology to process and preserve Ocean oysters. Thereby, not only increasing the value of Ocean oysters, but also ensuring that the product is always fresh and delicious, even when exported abroad.

Focus on processing Ocean oysters - Cua Song oysters

Quang Yen is a locality with many estuaries, tidal flats and sea areas in closed bays, so it is very favorable for aquaculture development. Thanks to that, this estuary is also famous for many types of seafood such as sea crabs, sea cockles, tiger mussels and especially Cua Song oysters or Ocean oysters. In recent years, Ocean oyster farming has become an economic model that has helped many people here become increasingly prosperous.

Ocean oyster farming area in Lien Hoa commune, Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh province. Photo: Thanh Tuyen

Exploiting the local strengths, in 2021, Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong established Tat Thanh Seafood Joint Stock Company and invested in raising Dai Duong oysters.

Sharing about choosing a completely new direction, Mr. Cuong said that he had gone through many jobs, from being a tour guide, to working in the import-export industry, then working as an accountant for a business... Finally, Mr. Cuong changed direction and switched to aquaculture.

Workers process Ocean oysters before putting them in an Ozone tank for disinfection. Photo: Thanh Tuyen

According to Mr. Cuong, Cua Song oysters, also known as Dai Duong oysters, are one of the strategic products in Quang Yen's aquaculture. This is the intersection of many currents, with a salinity of 10 - 18‰, which is very suitable for the development of Dai Duong oysters. Other places in the province are almost unable to raise this type of oyster.

Unlike the specialty Pacific milk oysters in Van Don, Ocean oysters in Quang Yen are larger in size, some are even as big as an adult’s hand. Ocean oysters raised for 15-18 months can reach a weight of up to 1kg/each.

From a few initial experimental Ocean oyster farms, he expanded the scale of oyster farming in the tidal flats southeast of Qua Xoai lagoon in Lien Hoa commune. Not only that, Mr. Cuong also provides seeds and buys commercial Ocean oysters from local people.

After a period of raising Ocean oysters and exporting them raw, he realized that the value of whole oysters was not high, and the situation of "good harvest, low price, good price, bad harvest" often occurred. During the long transportation process, especially when exporting, the quality and freshness of the oysters were not as good as before.

Especially during the complicated Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of tons of oysters are facing difficulties in consumption and export. This makes Mr. Cuong even more concerned about the need to pay more attention to the processing stage to increase the value of oysters and prolong the preservation time many times over.

Preserving Ocean Oysters with MAP Technology

So he pooled together and borrowed more capital to expand the workshop, investing in advanced equipment systems such as automatic oyster shelling and threading machines. In particular, Mr. Cuong also chose to apply MAP technology - one of the most advanced food preservation methods today to package Ocean oysters.

Ocean oysters are large in size and contain many nutrients... Photo: Thanh Tuyen

Accordingly, Ocean oysters are harvested and washed with seawater right on the raft and transported to the processing factory. Here, the oysters are brought to the processing room to wash the shells again to separate the intestines, clean the sand inside (if any), then pass through the Ozone tank to kill E.Coli bacteria, separate heavy metals, etc.

After being removed from the tank, the oysters are put into a cold room to drain and then canned using a semi-automatic air-blown tray packaging machine using MAP advanced gas technology. This technology will help change the air composition inside the packaging with a mixture of N2, CO2, O2 gases customized for each type of food to maintain freshness and prolong the preservation time. Thanks to that, the oyster intestine product can be preserved for 7 days at a temperature of 0-4 ^o C while still maintaining the original fresh quality. After that, the product is transferred to the freezer at -18 ^o C and can be preserved for 6 months.

Ocean oyster intestines are cleaned and disinfected, then packaged using MAP technology to help maintain the freshness of the product. Photo: Thanh Tuyen

Mr. Cuong said that up to now, the company's Dai Duong oyster products not only have output in the domestic market but also reach out to international markets such as China, Thailand, Cambodia with an output of 50-100 tons of oyster shells and 10 tons of oyster intestines per month. In addition, the company is creating stable jobs for about 30-40 regular and seasonal workers. In addition, the company also links in the chain: Supplying seeds - farming - production - consuming products for local people.

"I have always wanted to create more jobs for farmers and help develop the local economy. This can be considered my favorite thing," Cuong shared.

In the future, Mr. Cuong plans to expand the scale, apply new and advanced technologies in farming, processing, packaging... thereby bringing Quang Yen's Ocean oyster products to more and more large markets.

Source: https://danviet.vn/mot-ong-giam-doc-quang-ninh-tu-tin-xuat-khau-hau-dai-duong-hai-san-dai-bo-nho-cong-nghe-nay-20241219005236148.htm