Raising pearl oysters in net cages, a young man in Phu Quoc reaps huge profits.

Mr. Nguyen Van Truong (28 years old, residing in Duong To commune, Phu Quoc city, Kien Giang province) makes cylindrical net cages, over 1 meter long, and hangs them on fish rafts to raise pearl oysters. He earns a profit from this innovative method by selling them for 30,000 VND per oyster.

Mr. Truong is delighted to have successfully raised his son, a beautiful girl, by hanging a net cage underwater - Photo: CHI CONG

On November 17th, in an interview with Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Truong stated that in 2022, while helping his family, he discovered that his daughter's son was living on the rafts where his family raised grouper and snapper fish.

He caught one to try and found the meat of the pearl oyster delicious, sweet, and chewy, so he decided to learn more about this bivalve mollusk.

Initially, he researched information about the pearl oyster on the internet. Later, after learning about their growth habits, he began diving and searching for oyster spat around his family's fish farm to raise.

The pearl oyster that my brother raised has a large, wing-like shell with large, thread-like structures used to attach to substrates. The inside of this oyster is iridescent, pearly-silver in color. This species feeds on plankton and leftover fish food. However, when faced with unfavorable food or water conditions, it will release its silk threads and drift with the current.

To ensure a steady yield, Mr. Truong reused old nets and bought additional iron frames to make his own hanging net cages (each cage has 4 compartments, with 45-70 pearl oysters raised in each compartment) at a depth of 5-10m on the seabed.

Mr. Truong is raising pearl oysters with large, wing-shaped shells and large, thread-like appendages used to cling to substrates - Photo: CHI CONG

"Initially, I raised about 5,000 pearl oyster seedlings. Due to a lack of understanding about this species, I encountered many difficulties and didn't achieve the desired results. I continued to learn more about this species and started raising them again, and this time I succeeded. Currently, my fish farm has an area of ^​​100m² , and I'm raising about 8,000 pearl oysters, which I'm now selling," Mr. Truong happily said.

The selling price is 30,000 VND per bird (each weighing about 300g). It takes over a year to raise this species until it's ready for sale, but due to low investment costs and no need to buy feed, Mr. Truong earns hundreds of millions of VND in profit annually.

"In the near future, I will expand the scale of my farming operation by adding two more rafts and then select the pearl oysters that meet the standards for pearl implantation. After that, I will research how to breed them to both conserve the species and produce them commercially to serve the needs of locals and tourists visiting Phu Quoc for recreation and food," Mr. Truong said.

Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Long, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Duong To commune, informed that local people mainly raise grouper and snapper. Mr. Truong's practice of raising pearl oysters in floating cages is a new model with potential for development in Phu Quoc.

During the farming process, Mr. Truong also experimented with implanting pearls into these mollusks. The People's Committee of Duong To commune is currently supporting him with additional capital and assisting with the necessary paperwork to qualify for expansion, long-term farming, and diversification of species raised in cage farms on the island.

The cages for raising pearl oysters are suspended at a depth of about 5-10m below the seabed - Photo: CHI CONG

The meat of the pearl oyster is sweet and delicious - Photo: CHI CONG

Mr. Truong raises pearl oysters in an area with a clean marine environment and ensures the appropriate depth - Photo: CHI CONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nuoi-trai-ngoc-nu-trong-long-luoi-chang-trai-tre-o-phu-quoc-thu-loi-lon-20241117103049871.htm