Taking advantage of the low water season, many people in Da Nang flock to the confluence of the Han River - Do Toan River (Do Toa - Vinh Dien - Song Cai) down to the estuary every day in search of hard-shell clams such as ‘chip chip’, mussels and oysters. This job helps them earn millions of VND every day.

 

Dozens of people soaking themselves in the water under the Tran Thi Ly and Nguyen Van Troi bridges all day to hunt hard-shell clams.

People are seen soaking themselves in the water

Divers only bring a number of very simple tools, including styrofoam boxes and plastic baskets. The hunting is done entirely by hand. They go to the shallow water, using their hands to grope in the mud to find hard-shell clams and then put them in styrofoam boxes.

Each diver can earn VND700,000 - VND 1 million per day

Many women also participate in this strenuous job because of the high income

Mussels or clams are two species of hard-shell clams. People work from 5:00am until late afternoon to hunt. Mussels (left) are being sold for VND3,000 - VND5,000 per kilo whilst clams (right) are priced at VND15,000 - VND30,000 per kilo.

According to people, this black mussel species is sold for VND3,000 - 5,000 per kilo as food for lobsters in Nha Trang, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen... The period from early April to June every year is the best time to hunt this species.

Many trucks gather right where people catch hard-shell clams to buy

People will stop the hunting before 4:00pm when the water level starts to rise.

Reporting by BAO LAM - Translating by M.DUNG