Resources: Water spinach: Half a kilo Chili: 5-7 fruits (depending on the spiciness) Purple onion: 5 pieces Garlic: 5 cloves Seasoning: Vinegar, sugar, salt Perform: Step 1: Prepare water spinach First, you pick up the water spinach and remove all the leaves. After washing with water, add 2 tablespoons of salt to the pot, stir well and add the vegetables to wash again and then drain. Next, you put a cup of vinegar in another bowl of water and then put the water spinach in to soak for about 1 hour. This helps the vegetables to have a beautiful color. After soaking, you start the pot of water and put the vegetables in the blanching (quickly blanched without soft vegetables, losing their crispiness) and then take them out and put them in a bowl of ice cold water to soak for about 10 minutes. . Then take it out and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Step 2: Cook sweet and sour mixture hợp Peppers de-stemmed, onions and garlic peeled and sliced. Then, put in a pot of 500ml of water with 1 tablespoon of salt, 150g of sugar and 120ml of vinegar and then bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves. When the mixture cools down, add the onions, peppers and garlic. You can taste it again to see that the water has a sweet and salty taste that is just right. Step 3: Soak sweet and sour water spinach When the mixture cools down, put the water spinach in a glass jar and pour the mixture into it. Close the lid tightly and soak for about 3-4 days to use. When the vegetables have reached the acidity that you have not eaten yet, they can be placed in the refrigerator to preserve and use gradually. Pickles Resources: – Cucumber (cucumber): 5 – Fresh ginger, dried onion, dried garlic, chili fruit – Spices: Table salt, sour vinegar, granulated sugar Steps to take: Step 1: Prepare cucumber (cucumber) – The cucumbers are washed in a basin of water, then soaked with a little diluted salt water solution for about half an hour. – After soaking, take out the cucumbers in a basket and put them in the faucet to rinse a few times, drain. Step 2: Prepare the accompanying seasoning – While waiting for the pickled cucumbers, bring the onion and garlic out and peel the outer skin. – Left chili should be washed, broken off the green stalk, can leave the whole fruit or cut into small slices as you like. – Fresh ginger cleaned, peeled and cut into thin slices. Step 3: Make a delicious crispy pickled cucumber – First prepare a mixture of salt water to soak cucumbers according to the following recipe: Pour about 800ml of slightly warm water into a large bowl and then add three tablespoons of salt, one tablespoon of granulated sugar and three tablespoons of sour vinegar, Use a spoon to stir until dissolved. To have a way to make delicious crispy pickled cucumbers, you need to prepare this pickling water in the right ratio. – Next, add all the dried onion and peeled garlic on top with thin slices of ginger plus chopped red chili or chili continue to stir. – Next, put the cucumbers in the prepared glass jar (remember to disinfect with boiling water before salting the cucumbers. – Finally, pour a mixture of salt water, sugar, and vinegar just dissolved in so that the cucumbers are submerged. Then put the lid on the jar, bring it to a cool place and soak it for about 3 to 5 days to have a delicious crispy salted cucumber dish. Salted figs Resources: – 500g glutinous figs – Fine salt, vinegar – Chili: 4-5 depending on the spiciness – Garlic: 1-2 bulbs – Galangal: half a tuber about 20g – Sugar: 20g – Glass jars for salt. Making: – Pickled figs soaked in salt water to dilute the plastic and reduce darkening. You can leave the whole fruit or halve it, but leaving the whole fig will be more crunchy than halving. – Soak figs in salt water and diluted vinegar for about 20-30 minutes to release all the resin. After that, rinse 2-3 times with clean water and let it dry. – Sliced ​​or smashed garlic. – Thinly sliced ​​chili. – Thinly sliced ​​galangal. – Boil about 600ml of water with 20gr of granulated salt and 15gr of sugar, taste a bit salty, sweet and sweet according to taste (note not to let the salt be too light, it will quickly sour and become scum). Bring to a boil then let cool. – Put figs in the jar, alternating garlic, chili, galangal. Fill the boiling salt water with sugar to cool, if the figs float, use a heavy object to press down. – After 1-2 days, keep the figs in the refrigerator to eat gradually. – Salted figs begin to be eaten after 2-3 days, the figs will turn yellow. Salted bean sprouts Resources: Clean bean sprouts: 500 gr Carrot: 1 medium Red onion: 2-3 bulbs Chives: 1 bunch Chili: 4-5 (can be omitted) Sugar, salt, vinegar, filtered water Clean glass jars (wash in boiling water, let dry) Steps: + Make a sweet and sour mixture consisting of three tablespoons of sugar, two teaspoons of salt, and one teaspoon of vinegar dissolved in four tablespoons of water. Boil this salt water mixture and let it boil for about 1-2 minutes, then turn off the heat and wait for it to cool. + Pick up the remaining bean sprouts and bean pods, wash and dry. Wash the carrots and peel them, grate or grate them. + Wash chives, cut into pieces about 3 cm, dry. + Peel the onion and cut it into thin slices. + Put chives, bean sprouts, carrots in a bowl, wash and mix well. Wash and slice the peppers. Wait for the brine to cool, then add the chili. + Put the bean sprouts mixture just mixed into the glass jar. Pour in the salt water and vinegar. Tie items on top so that the rack doesn’t float out of the water. + Soak the melon for about 1 day, then squeeze out the water and put it on a plate to eat with rice and other dishes. + Add 1 bowl of fish sauce to dip the melon, very delicious. Fish sauce for minced garlic, sliced ​​chili, sugar, lime juice and paprika. Xiao Bao (Synthetic) Photo: Collectibles

After sunset in Jaffna, Anthony Vigrado dived into the waters of Palk Bay to catch sea cucumbers – a prickly skin creature that has grown in value and has been his main source of income for the past 12 years.

But after 10 hours of searching, what he got is a fraction of what he used to be. The reason is that sea cucumbers have been extensively exploited in the northern coasts of Sri Lanka and southern India.

Treasures of the sea

“Illegal fishermen are fishing illegally in the places where we often dive for sea cucumbers. We are losing income and a livelihood for them, ”said the 31-year-old fisherman.

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms with a soft, tubular body resembling a vegetable of the same name. Photo: Guardian.

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms with a soft, tubular body resembling a vegetable of the same name. They are an unusual animal but play an important role in the marine ecosystem. When they eat debris in sediments, they regenerate nutrients and excrete nitrogen, ammonia and calcium carbonate – components that make up coral reefs. Sea cucumber also helps slow ocean acidification due to human activity.

The demand for sea cucumbers is huge in China and Southeast Asian countries, where they are processed into delicious dishes and used in traditional remedies. Dried sea cucumber is called calche-de-mer or trepang. They are also considered by many, especially China, an aphrodisiac.

This has made the sea cucumber trade become “super profitable”. Therefore, this animal is in danger of extinction. In the 1980s, sea cucumber was priced below 70 USD / kg, now the price has increased to more than 270 USD / kg. The rare species cost up to nearly 3,500 USD / kg.

Over the years, sea cucumbers in Palk Bay and Mannar Bay are overfished. For the most expensive species, the number of individuals has dropped by more than 60% globally.

Fishermen harvested sea cucumbers caught on Mannar Bay. Photo: Guardian.

Now, this tiny tropical island has become a hotspot for smuggling and illegal sea cucumber fishing. Like Vigrado, more than 10,000 fishing families living along Sri Lanka’s north coast are anxious about their livelihoods.

Chamari Dissanayake, Senior Lecturer in Zoology at Sri Jayewardenepura University in Sri Lanka, said: “The number of sea cucumbers is plummeting due to overfishing. It affects the biodiversity and the livelihoods of coastal fishermen who have long depended on this profession ”.

Vigrado said many illegal fishing boats damaged the facilities and equipment of local fishermen to catch sea cucumbers, causing some people to commit suicide because they could not pay the debt.

“They are grabbing everything”

AM Stanny Lambert, a 31-year-old fisherman from Vankalai in Mannar, said he was sad and angry at these crimes.

“It was unethical and we were stuck, because they were doing everything in front of us,” he said. Lambert and his father have been licensed to fish for 11 years and are the breadwinner of the family.

Most reported offenses take advantage of different regulations from neighboring countries. While Sri Lanka issued fishing permits and permits the export of sea cucumbers, India has completely banned all trade in these animals since 2001.

As a result, sea cucumbers are illegally caught in India and smuggled into Sri Lanka, where they are legally exported to Southeast Asia, or exported from India under fake labels.

Marine animal protection forces in Lakshadweep Islands, India seized 486 sea cucumbers died in March 2021. Photo: Lakshadweep Forest Management Board.

In August 2020, three men were caught smuggling nearly 1,000 kg of sea cucumber from Tamil Nadu in India to Sri Lanka via Mannar Bay. The Indian Coast Guard priced these sea cucumbers to nearly $ 700,000 in the international market. A similar case was reported in March 2021.

Teale Phelps Bondaroff, research director at OceansAsia, an organization that recently mapped sea cucumber arrests and seizures in the two countries, said: “If you have a legitimate market near a market, illegal, legal markets will become huge “fish wash” dens.

Exhausted

For many years, the Sri Lankan and Indian authorities have worked to combat this type of marine crime. But the growing number of arrests shows that illegal trade is spreading to areas that have never been affected before.

Nowadays, as the value of animals is increasing, exploitation is also becoming more common. Great demand for sea cucumbers has led to deadly violence in Mexico, related to yakuza criminal organizations in Japan, and smuggling between Tanzania and Zanzibar.

According to OceansAsia, the network of organized sea cucumber fishing and smuggling criminals is spreading from the Palk Bay and Mannar Bay into untapped areas of the Lakshadweep alliance, an archipelago off the west coast. South India.

Wild island of Suheli in Lakshadweep. Photo: Guardian.

In the largest recorded arrest, disclosure from local fishermen in February 2020 helped authorities find 1,716 sea cucumbers worth nearly $ 580,000 hidden in nearby coral reefs. Suheli deserted island.

“Resource depletion may be the main reason these people are looking for new locations. Lakshadweep is still pristine, which may be why merchants moved there, ”said Sajan John, head of the Marine Projects and Policy Management Unit at Wildlife Trust of India.

Realizing the seriousness of the crime of selling sea cucumbers, the local government reacted strongly. In February 2020, the world’s first sea cucumbers conservation area was established in Lakshadweep, anti-theft bases were established across the islands and Lakshadweep Sea cucumber Protection Task Force was established. established with the help of the Central Bureau of Investigation of India.

A batch of 416 dead sea cucumbers was seized on a deserted island off Perumal in Lakshadweep in March 2021. Photo: Lakshadweep Forest Management Board.

“The people of Lakshadweep understand the importance of sea cucumber because their livelihood depends on fishing. When sea cucumbers are affected, other fisheries are also affected, ”said Sivakumar Kuppusamy, a scientist at the Indian Institute of Wildlife.

But as the majority of illegally-caught and trafficked sea cucumbers continue to be smuggled into Sri Lanka, Kuppusamy agrees that while it is important to stop this illegal supply chain, educate the fighters. Illegally catching sea cucumbers correctly appreciates the importance of this animal is also important to protect them.

“We have to convince them of the role of sea cucumber in the ecosystem. Without sea cucumbers, they are jeopardizing the sea, ”he said. “That’s when they begin to realize that their livelihoods and their children’s futures will be affected.”

“Break that illegal supply chain and convince the fishermen – we have to do both. If not, this business will continue to grow ”.

The strange movement of a flying snake Some snakes are able to climb trees and “fly” from branch to branch with deliberate jumps. Scientists are investigating what makes them do that.

Illustration.

Pay attention to the end of a cucumber when shopping at the market and choose to buy cucumbers. If you see any fruit with flowers attached to it, it is a very fresh cucumber, maybe just picked early or last night. In particular, the fresher the flowers are, the less abundant the melon is and you should choose to buy.

Look at the stem at the top of the fruit

Another way to choose a fresh and delicious cucumber is when the flowers are lost due to the transportation process: If the melon has no flowers, look at the stem. Cucumber stalks that are fresh and juicy are freshly picked melons. On the contrary, if the stem of a withered melon turns black, it has been a few days.

Observe the shape and characteristics of a melon

• In terms of color, choose fruits with bright green color. Delicious cucumbers are usually fairly uniform color, with no bruises or yellow stains.

• In terms of shape, choose a straight fruit, with little or no warping.

• The long, thick melons will eat crunchy and delicious when choosing short, round fruits.

• Need to choose heavy hand held fruit, smooth skin, no roughness.

• Small fruit cucumbers will be sweeter than large ones.

• Avoid buying large, bulging melons in the middle or large heads with small tails (and vice versa) because these are old melons, with lots of seeds and lots of water, not delicious.

• Cucumbers with yellow stains on the body show that melons have been left for a long time and begin to show signs of deterioration. These melons are not eaten very well and may have a bitter taste.

• Some melons will have a thin layer of chalk on the outside. This layer works to keep water for cucumbers, bringing fresh taste, not wilting. To clean this powder you need to use water mixed with lemon, vinegar or hot water. And you should choose those with such protective chalk. These are young fruits, with few seeds.