Many snail farming ponds were swept away due to coastal erosion in My Thuy commune: People are worried about their long-term livelihoods.

Snail farmers suffered heavy losses.

Since 2019, Mr. Phan Thanh Han in My Thuy village, My Thuy commune has invested in more than 10 snail farming ponds on an area of nearly ^3,000m2 . The ponds are located about 700m from the sea. According to Mr. Han, since then, this area has never had any landslides or subsidence. However, in the past 2 months, his family's snail farming area has experienced severe landslides. After the recent heavy rain, 2 saltwater wells used to supply water and oxygen, along with all the suction pipes, pumps, and other equipment of the family, were swept away to the sea.

Because it was the farming season, the farming could not be interrupted. Despite the loss of nearly 200 million VND due to the previous well being washed away, the family still had to borrow money to build a new, smaller well closer to the shore to maintain the supply of salt water and oxygen 24/7 to the pond.

“A snail season lasts 12-18 months, now I just hope to keep it until next summer to harvest, if the sea goes deeper, I will be left with nothing. The cost of raising 10 ponds has so far been nearly 1 billion VND, the damage will continue if the coastline continues to collapse like it is now without being repaired or handled,” Mr. Han shared.

The snail farming area of My Thuy villagers located next to the My Thuy Port project under construction has almost completely collapsed, causing people to be devastated - Photo: LT

Sharing the same fate, Mr. Vo Viet Phi’s 9 snail ponds, who live in the same village, also fell into a similar situation. Although he divided the ponds into 2 locations with a total area of about ^2,300m2 and a total investment of nearly 1 billion VND, Mr. Phi still could not avoid heavy losses due to coastal erosion.

“We just released the seeds in August 2025, and we expect to harvest the first batch in 8 months. However, 10 days ago, 3 saltwater wells used for snail farming in our family collapsed. Then, 3 ponds on the shore were also buried by sand. Luckily, we were able to move the snails to another pond in time,” Phi said.

As for Mr. Phan Thanh Tuong's family, living in the same village, 5 snail ponds with an area of about 1,000m2 located near My Thuy beach were also seriously affected. To provide water and oxygen, Mr. Tuong built a well to draw salt water about 100m from the shore, with a large water pipe system reinforced on wooden bars from the sea. Inside the shore, the ponds were lined with nylon tarps, surrounded by fiber cement panels. Although the snails had been released for 7 months, and were expected to be harvested 3 months later, on the afternoon of November 6, 2025, Mr. Tuong was forced to mobilize his whole family to scoop all the snails and move them to another pond. According to Mr. Tuong, the reason was that his family had 3 ponds in this area that were completely swept out to sea due to sand subsidence, and the wells serving the farming were also severely damaged and could not be repaired.

Mr. Tuong added that from 2021 to now, the coast through My Thuy village has about 30 households raising snails and other aquatic species. Of these, about 16 households have been affected by landslides and lake drifts. This farming area is located near the My Thuy Port Project under construction.

“After the incident, we reported it to the local authorities and filed a complaint. The local authorities also coordinated with relevant agencies, construction units and project investors to inspect, but the damage has not yet been specifically estimated. Our biggest concern now is that our long-term livelihoods are being threatened, so we hope that there will be a thorough examination of the cause of the landslide and guidance and support so that people can feel secure in their production,” Mr. Tuong confided.

Causes of landslides

Speaking to reporters, Vice Chairman of My Thuy Commune People's Committee Le Dac Trieu confirmed that he had received a complaint about many ponds, wells and auxiliary systems for raising snails of people in My Thuy village being washed away due to coastal erosion. Regarding the cause, many households said that the construction process of My Thuy Port Area project, specifically sand dredging nearby, had affected the flow, leading to erosion during heavy rains.

Mr. Trieu said that through on-site inspection, the locality and related units determined that there were 16 households with shrimp and snail ponds on agricultural land. Among them, there were some snail ponds encroaching on the breakwater and beach land. Currently, 18 wells serving aquaculture were damaged, 6 snail ponds were broken or washed away.

Mr. Phan Thanh Tuong scooped up snails from the lake near the landslide site and moved them to another place to avoid damage - Photo: LT

“Through working, the units involved in sand dredging for the construction of the My Thuy Port Area project, Long Hai One Member Co., Ltd. and FECON Joint Stock Company, affirmed that they were constructing within the licensed scope and did not affect the aquaculture area of the people. However, to ensure the rights of the people, our locality is recommending that the relevant parties temporarily stop sand dredging to check and inventory the extent of damage. Because the aquaculture area of the people affected by coastal erosion is within the area of land clearance (GPMB) for the My Thuy Port Area project, in the immediate future, the commune will mobilize the construction units to support part of the damage. At the same time, actively coordinate to speed up the procedures to recover and compensate GPMB for households in My Thuy village in 2025,” Mr. Trieu informed.

According to the Quang Tri Economic Zone Management Board, the construction units of the My Thuy Port Project are operating within the licensed scope and have not detected any violations. In addition, the local aquaculture area may have been affected by the recent heavy rains and floods. Partly due to the dredging and sand extraction process for the project, the incident may have affected the flow. Therefore, the Provincial Economic Zone Management Board is urgently requesting the construction units to consider supporting the local people.

Le Truong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/xa-hoi/202511/nhieu-ho-nuoi-oc-huong-bi-cuon-troi-do-sat-lo-bo-bien-o-xa-my-thuy-nguoi-dan-lo-au-ve-sinh-ke-lau-dai-37513ce/