Oyster farmers after nuclear sewage is discharged into the sea: some people sell in advance and hold the money in their hands, and some people invest millions in a "desperate bet"
Source: Times Finance Author: Wang Yingling
"Vote or not? How much to cast? Throughout September, Yu Dong, who is engaged in oyster farming, struggled with the matter of planting seedlings for one reason: nuclear sewage.
On October 5, local time, Japan officially began to discharge the second round of nuclear-contaminated water, which is expected to last for 17 days, and the discharge is still about 7,800 tons, more than a month after the first discharge on August 24, since then, the lives of these "sea-eating" people have been disrupted.
Yudong is a native of Rushan, Weihai, Shandong, which is a famous oyster production area and has the reputation of "the hometown of Chinese oysters", and the village has been working on it for generations. In 2008, Yu Dong inherited the family business and began farming oysters and sea cucumbers.
In just over a decade, Yu Dong witnessed the rise of Rushan oysters from no one to fame, and the 30 acres of sea area taken over from his father slowly developed to 500 acres. Yu Dong once felt that "the sea can always go down", but "eating by the sea" also means variables, but none of them are as full of unknowns as now.
Oysters are raised in shallow seas, which have extremely high requirements for water quality, because they are worried that some farmers plan to sell oysters one after another, even if they have not yet grown fat, "the money is in your hands to be at ease". But Yu Dong intends to "swim against the current", thinking that he can put into production and harvest several more batches of oysters to fill the production gap next spring. But no one knows what will happen next year, and for investors from Nanning, "swimming against the current" now is tantamount to a big gamble.
"The key words now are, unknown, wait-and-see, and at the same time a little helpless."
"Do you have to invest even if you know it's risky?"
"Let's vote, the opportunity will not always be."
At the end of September, Yu Dong gritted his teeth, or decided to put million-dollar oyster seedlings into 500 acres of sea, and the entanglement and anxiety also temporarily came to an end, if it goes well, these oysters will be harvested on the eve of next year's Spring Festival. ”
Workers sorting oysters on the dock, photo by Times Finance Wang Yingling
"Swim against the current", a big gamble
In the hearts of seafood foodies, there are two kinds of oysters, Rushan oysters and other oysters.
Rushan City is a county-level city under the administration of Weihai, Shandong Province, located in the hinterland of Qingdao, Weihai and Yantai, bordering the Yellow Sea in the south and across the sea from South Korea and Japan, and is a well-known oyster production area in China. In fact, "oyster" is a name for outsiders, and Rushan locals call it "oyster", or "sea oyster".
Rushan's population density is very low, some people call it the "Hegang of the sea", in September, the summer tourist season has passed, the streets are very quiet, driving along the coastline, before you see the sea, the smell of the ocean first penetrates the nasal cavity.
The street of Rushan Yintan waterfront, photo by Times Finance
The road is lined with oyster processing factories, large and small. After the oysters are salvaged from the sea and covered in dirt, they are called "mud goods" in the industry, and to become large, white oysters in the hands of diners, they need to go through cleaning, sorting, purification and other processes in the processing plant. Yudong's processing plant is in a small courtyard, and although the sparrow is small, it has all the organs. The simply decorated bungalow houses a warehouse, a purification tank, a weight sorter for screening oysters, and an office.
The decoration of the office is also very simple, the white walls have been yellowed, but there is a fine tea table for hospitality, and on the wall hangs "watching the sea and listening to the waves" and a map of China. Yu Dong is talkative and hospitable, often inviting colleagues or customers to the office for tea, and friends like to call him "Professor Yu".
For nearly a month, Yu Dong has been busy expanding the sea area for cultivating oysters. This year, dealers from Nanning, Guangxi came to invest, preparing to cooperate with Yudong to expand the sea area and increase production capacity.
Yudong's farm originally had 500 acres of sea area, according to the original plan, this time to expand another 2,000 acres, "and the processing plant also plans to change, now a little simple, originally planned to be replaced with a more standardized plant next year." For Yu Dong, who has been farming oysters for 16 years, this year would have been the "take-off period" of his career. But the nuclear sewage that began to be discharged on August 24 disrupted his pace, "Now everyone is panicking, and we are also passive, and there is no law." ”
"Why are Rushan oysters different? It is because the water quality of Rushan is good. Yu Dong introduced that oysters are a filter-feeding seafood, they feed on plankton in the water, as a "seawater filter" oysters, only in enough clean water, can grow delicious enough.
Rushan is known for its superior water quality, with 199 kilometers of coastline, 1.7 million acres of seawater water and 600,000 acres of oyster culture. And the tide is smooth, the wind and waves are small, and it is located at the mouth of the two rivers of Rushan River and Huanglei River, and the river brings a lot of nutrients, creating the reputation of Rushan as the "land of oysters".
The water quality that was once the most proud has also become Yu Dong's worry now, "Sea oysters are too 'pretentious', and the water quality is slightly worse." ”
"A lot of people are worried and want to sell the oysters in advance and keep the money in their hands." Yu Dong said that every winter is the best time for oyster fatter, and what is sold now is to endure the pain of cutting love, "Some people sell it now, they can only sell 3 yuan a pound of mud goods, but in winter they can sell at least four or five yuan a catty." ”
Among them is Yu Dong's cousin Yu Hui, whose farm area is smaller than Yu Dong's, and like Yu Dong, he entered the industry in 2008, "a little afraid that this pollution will have an impact on the market, so I want to cash out one after another." At present, Yu Hui is still negotiating the price with buyers, and whether to raise it next year depends on the situation in May next year.
Yu Dong and brother Yu Hui at the pier, photo by Times Finance
But Yu Dong's thinking is different from most people, and he has a different strategy for oysters and sea cucumbers. Every year at the end of September and the beginning of October, it was the season when a large number of sea cucumbers were put into production, according to the original plan, Yudong would soon invest more than one million yuan worth of seedlings, but this autumn Yudong did not dare to invest again, and even next year planned to be vacant for a year, "The input cost of sea cucumbers is high, the payback period is too long, and now it is too risky to increase production." If the water quality is not good, sea cucumbers can easily turn into water. ”
In terms of oysters, unlike his brother, Yu Dong plans to "swim against the current" and increase the production of oysters. "The surrounding farmers are ready to reduce production, or sell it in advance, and the output may not be able to keep up before next year's New Year," therefore, Yu Dong and his investors believe that increasing production at this time may be able to fill the production gap at the harvest on the eve of next year's Spring Festival. ”
However, the hesitation also spread between Donghe investors, how many seedlings to invest, they almost entangled for a whole September: "Invest too much, afraid that the sea water will really go wrong and lose too much, invest less and fear of delaying the fighter, and then unwilling." ”
From no one cares, to fame
Yu Dong, who grew up on the island, knows that in front of the ocean, there is no opportunism and no overnight wealth, but in the face of the irresistible unknown of manpower, he can only choose to "make a desperate bet".
About 20 minutes by ferry from Rushan Port, 7 kilometers south of the sea, is Yudong's hometown, Xiaoqingdao Village, a small island that retains the style of a primitive fishing village. The island is lined with green trees and red tiles, strange stones, and about 70 households, and the houses are arranged vertically along the north-south direction of the island, which is very neat and orderly.
In the sea around the island, as far as the eye can see, there are red or blue floats, reflecting the sea surface particularly brightly, under the invisible sea, each floating float hangs a cage of oysters, which is the industry on which Xiaoqingdao village depends. The pier is also covered with cranes for harvesting oysters.
The small island opposite the pier is "Little Qingdao", and the surrounding sea is covered with colorful floats, photo by Times Finance
"According to records, our village has been fishing and breeding for generations since the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty." Yu Dong said. For generations, the ancestors in the village have lived the most simple life of cultivating the sea, "men go to sea, women weave nets", like a paradise.
In Yudong's memory, oyster farming began with his grandfather, "It was raised on the beach in the 60s of the last century, and the real large-scale breeding was in the 80s." "Living by the sea, farming and fishing are interspersed, without conflict," health oysters are like growing crops, crops are idle when planted, and while waiting for growth, you can start fishing. ”
Grandpa passed on the craft to Yu Dong's father, who in turn heard from his father, "I grew up watching the whole process of raising oysters, they were very hard, but the value they created was very low. "Because of the hard work and lack of profit, at that time, in the eyes of the locals, it seemed that only people who had "no skills" would stay in the village to farm, "They all said, 'Good men don't raise sea oysters.'" ”
The young Yu Dong chose to go out. After graduating at the age of 21, he stayed in Wuhan to do construction tower crane business, and did it for 8 years, "At that time, the real estate was very good, the income was very high, and it could earn hundreds of thousands a year." In 2008, 29-year-old Yu Dong chose to return to his hometown and returned to Xiaoqingdao Village, "My father is old and can't do anything, and he wants me to go back to take over the oysters at home, otherwise I can only sell the cultivated sea area to others." ”
On the one hand, Yu Dong feels that the aquaculture industry is more stable than the real estate industry with ups and downs, and "the people always have to eat and drink"; On the other hand, he can't bear this sea, "I grew up snacking on seafood, I always have feelings for the sea, and I feel that I can always rely on the sea." ”
When Yu Donggang took over the family's oyster farming, he could only break even and couldn't make a lot of money, "I can only earn tens of thousands of yuan a year, which is a big gap from when I was in Wuhan, but compared to working part-time, I still see hope in doing business by myself, and I think it's good as long as I get through the trough." ”
The trough was in 2008, which was the most difficult time for Yudong's oyster business, and the difficulty was that "the wine aroma was also afraid of the deep alley", "Everyone didn't know that our oysters were good, so I often pulled thousands of pounds of oysters to the market in Weihai and gave them free tasting, tirelessly saying that our oysters in Rushan are good, and the oysters in our Xiaoqingdao village are good." ”
In 2009, Rushan oysters were registered as China's GI certification trademarks, becoming China's national GI products, and in 2016, Rushan City was awarded the "Hometown of Chinese Oysters". Rushan oysters, which originally relied on word of mouth, had a brand effect, which exceeded Yu Dong's expectations, "I thought it would take a long time to let everyone know about the oysters in our village, but I didn't expect that the entire Rushan oyster industry had exploded." ”
Rushan is known as the home of oysters, photo by Times Finance
"Not only did some people ask for it, but some people also placed orders in advance, and since June, some people have fixed the goods at the end of the year, and the dried oysters we processed have also been sold to South Korea and Australia." ”
In just over a decade, Yu Dong has witnessed the rise of Rushan oysters from no one to fame, and the 30 acres of sea area taken over from his father have slowly developed to 500 acres.
However, "eating by the sea" also means the unknown and variables, and Yudong's breeding business has also suffered a heavy blow. On August 11, 2019, Typhoon Likima hit the Jiaodong Peninsula, and oyster farms at sea became the hardest hit area. In Yudong's farm, the stakes holding oysters were blown off by the wind, and "all the oysters sank to the bottom." ”
Yu Dong said that the typhoon caused heavy losses to every household, "If these oysters are mature and marketed in winter, they can be worth four or five million, and it costs another million to renew equipment, ropes, cages, and floats." ”
"At that time, I felt that people could not make any sound when they were really helpless." Recalling that time, Yu Dong was speechless, "It's like a very cherished person left him, you are speechless, and it is useless to roar." ”
In addition to typhoons, high temperatures are also a problem. Oysters like cold water, locals often say "hot water clams, cold water oysters", in the past two years, the extreme high temperature in summer, but also make the mortality rate of oysters farmed in Yudong higher than in previous years.
Now, nuclear sewage has cast a shadow over the uncertain oyster farming, "This nuclear sewage discharge is different from typhoons, and everything is unknown to us in the face of this." Typhoons are instantaneous, but the fear will last longer. ”
"Hope the waves will continue next year"
Even though the oyster farming industry is unknown and risky, the people of Rushan, including Yu Dong, seem to have an indelible love for this industry. One side of the water and soil breeds the unique Rushan oyster, and the oyster also nurtures the other person.
In Haiyangsuo Town, the "oyster town", there is an oyster culture museum, which displays the process of oyster farming from the beach throwing stones and pillars in the 70s and 80s, to the shallow sea in the 90s, and then to the development of marine ranching after the 21st century.
In the Oyster Culture Museum, the history of oyster development is restored, photo by Times Finance
Xu Li, a native of Rushan, is a museum docent and has a lot of information about the development of the Rushan oyster industry, and she also has her worries in the face of nuclear sewage. "We eat by the sea, although not only oysters, but also shrimp, fish, clams, but the pillar is oysters. If there is really an impact, the first impact is also oysters, because oysters have too high requirements for water quality, water quality or salinity is slightly not up to standard, may die, and if the quality is not reached, it cannot be sold at a good price. ”
What worries Xu Li more is that there is a large demand for manpower in the upstream and downstream of the oyster industry chain, which is an indispensable local employment container, "Our industry here is not particularly developed, and we are more dependent on the oyster industry, and many people do not go out to work, just rely on oysters to live." ”
It is understood that at present, Rushan has initially formed an industrial chain of seven key links of seedling breeding, breeding, processing, sales, waste utilization, packaging accessories, and cultural tourism, with an output value of more than 10 billion yuan, and more than 20,000 practitioners in the upstream and downstream of the industry have increased their average annual income by nearly 1.2 billion yuan. According to the "National Geographical Indication Oyster Brand Value Ranking", in 2023, the brand value of Rushan oysters will be 19.385 billion yuan, ranking first in the country.
"There are so many things involved in oysters." Yu Dong also said, "On the assembly line of breeding, cleaning, packaging, and transportation, from processing equipment, harvesting vessels, cold chain logistics, to workers on the dock, floating, cages, incubators for transportation, etc., if the chain of oysters is broken, what should the people on this do?" ”
Yu Dong said that many people's work lives have changed as a result, and in the past, some truck drivers often couldn't find work, but now during the harvest season, they are so busy that they have to queue up to find them to work. There are also the "axe gang", many of them are sixty or seventy-year-old people in the village, and they can earn 40,000 or 50,000 a year over the years. ”
The "Axe Gang" in Yudongkou is a local nickname for oyster processors. Oysters grow in cages, space is tight, salvaged oysters are often glued together, workers need to use tools to knock the sticky oysters open, in order to avoid the hot weather makes oysters open their mouths, this work is often carried out in the morning or evening. This is a process with low technical threshold but time-consuming, mostly carried out by local elderly people.
Oyster processing workers on the dock, photo by Times Finance
In the evening, approaching the pier, my ears are filled with the sound of "jingle and bell". In September, the growing oysters fill the cage, and in order to ensure the space to continue growing, the workers remove and separate the oysters into two cages, a process called "cage". More than two dozen elderly people squatted on the pier, constantly tapping and sorting oysters. "I have been doing this job for more than ten years, more than 20 yuan an hour, and I can earn three or four thousand yuan a month." Aunt Zheng, a 60-year-old villager, said with a smile.
"Do you know about nuclear sewage?" Aunt Zheng shook her head. For foodies, oysters are occasionally fatty and sweet in the mouth, seemingly dispensable, while for the "axe gang", oysters are a source of livelihood that never owes money. They don't know much about the future, only that the "jingle bell" in their hands can give them peace of mind.
The sun is setting, the sunset reflects the sea next to the pier golden, the hats of the "axe gang" aunts are golden, and even the oyster shells full of dirt have become golden.
The pier at sunset, photo by Times Finance
"In the face of this situation, doesn't Professor Yu write a poem?" Friends coaxed Yu Dong, who liked to improvise poetry, not seeking to understand the meaning, but only to be catchy.
Yu Dong thought for a moment, raised his hands, and chanted loudly to everyone on the pier, "Beautiful big milk mountain, everything is splendid, I like oysters, I want to eat here!" The old people stopped the tapping in their hands and looked at Yu Dong and giggled.
"I hope that next year, the sound will still be there." After finishing the chanting, Yu Dong turned around and left the dock, muttering softly in his mouth.
(The interviewee in the article is a pseudonym)