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The hunt for tidal flats, the danger of depleting the sa worm resources

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Sa worm (also known as sa worm) – a specialty of the mangrove intertidal zone in the Northeast of our country is actually a type of sandworm, an endemic organism that lives in a mangrove-rich, sandy mud environment. Sa worm is expensive because it can be processed into delicious and nutritious food, but partly because it is increasingly scarce because some people exploit it aggressively in the form of extinction.

Tidal flat in Quan Lan island, Van Don district, Quang Ninh province. Photo TTH Fresh sa worms sold at the tidal flats cost more than 300,000 VND/kg, reaching the consumer’s table can be up to millions of dollars and preliminarily processed and dried depending on different prices, the most expensive can be up to nearly ten million VND. /kg. So enough to see, Sa worm is more expensive than many rare and precious specialties from the sea. Sa worm is less distributed, easy to exploit and reproduce, it is more difficult to maintain the natural breed, meanwhile, it is not possible to artificially breed this high-value seafood. In the Northeast Sea, which is geographically located in the Gulf of Tonkin with many bays, conifers and coastal saltwater ponds, it is the ideal habitat of the Sa worm. In addition, the tidal flats must have primary flora and mangrove trees for the slugs to reside. This layer of mangroves keeps the plankton in the water and is the food for the worms and many other bivalve molluscs such as clams, clams, oysters, blood cockles… Sa worm is mentioned as a specialty of Quan Lan and Minh Chau islands, Van Don district, Quang Ninh province because in the tidal flats along Quan Lan island, there is the best kind of worm. Another reason is that the oldest fishery of worms originated from the inhabitants of the island. There are families whose profession of digging and catching fish is passed down from generation to generation, supporting many generations. Increasingly, this item is more and more expensive due to scarcity and there was a time when sage was hunted and sold. Officers of Quan Lan Border Guard Station (Quang Ninh Border Guard) stationed in the area always integrate propaganda content to protect aquatic resources whenever there is a meeting or propaganda sessions. But only the fisherman understands better, if not protected, not “saved” for the next season, the risk of worms will also disappear like blood cockles, boredom, silk clams… Most of the fishers are women. They understand the characteristics of this intertidal marine species. With a specialized sand shovel, they arrived at the tidal flat early in the morning. At night, the worms in the nest come up to eat plankton, they use a shovel to quickly roll up the sand layer to catch it. The sun is up, the temperature is high, the sand is hot, the animal will hide deep down, not being caught anymore. It is important that the fishing profession is completely manual. If mechanized or used tools to plow the sand, the slugs will no longer be able to reproduce and will disappear until they disappear. It has happened in other sea areas such as Tien Yen, Ha Long, and Quang Yen of Quang Ninh province, when the tidal flats dried up, mangroves were cut down, over-exploited, encroached on the sea, and sucked sand. make the sage disappear. The People’s Committee of Quang Ninh province has regulated the period of banning the exploitation of worms in June and July every year (the breeding time of the worms). Mining is only allowed by the traditional manual method of using apricots and spades and only for worms that have reached a size over 10cm long. Along with people’s lives, Quan Lan Border Guard Station, when receiving people’s feedback, authenticates information and coordinates with many levels and branches to protect the intertidal area. Due to the large profits, many traders instigate people to use high-pressure pumps, pump out water, and plow the tidal flats to catch worms. The whole coastal shoal area was overturned, the environment was polluted, and large and small seafood was destroyed. There are times, early in the morning, when people go to the beach to “hunt” sa worms, Border Guard officers also come out to support people in protecting the intertidal area, propagandize and mobilize so that people do not exploit in the form of fishing. extermination, peace of mind to pursue their livelihoods, and at the same time, severely punish households who do not comply with the general regulations, exterminate fishing, and destroy the environment. Van Don has more than 2,000 hectares of tidal flats and nearly 1,000 fishermen make a living by hunting worms and natural intertidal mollusks. The original people in the island very well understand that seafood is their source of life, but when people from other places come, traders only buy for profit, there are always fishing activities that go against the interests of the community. this population. Especially, sand mining activities have been boycotted, protested and petitioned by fishermen, causing the locality to suspend this activity and rearrange order and stability in coastal residential areas. Accordingly, all acts of encroaching on the tidal flats, destroying the habitat of marine resources, local authorities encourage people to detect, denounce and clarify. Recently, Quan Minh Co., Ltd., an enterprise that dredging creeks and exploiting silica sand, has been accused by people of affecting the environment and attacking tidal flats, dumping waste, polluting the environment. affect the growth of the worm. In many places, people see both young worms and the fear of the extinction of worms is real. Van Don district immediately suspended the project’s construction to protect marine resources and at the same time maintain security and order in the area.