A diver releases a spanner crab with roe back into the seas off Lý Sơn Islands of the central Quảng Ngãi Province. Photo courtesy of Lý Sơn Marine Protected Area

LÝ SƠN ISLANDS – The management board of Lý Sơn Marine Protected Area (MPA), in cooperation with voluntary Team Light Charity, has released 35 spanner crabs (Ranina ranina) carrying roe (unfertilised eggs) for reproduction into the ecological recovery zone off the islands.

The MPA said the release is part of their regular sustainable ocean restoration action plan in gene conservation and seafood resources protection, an answer to the call of World Ocean Day since 2021.

The Spanner crab (Ranina ranina) is a signature dish in the coastal central region of Việt Nam. Photo courtesy of Lý Sơn Marine Protected Area

The red sea crab is a luxury piece of seafood in the coastal area between Phú Yên and Quảng Ngãi Provinces, costing from VNĐ600,000 to VNĐ900,000 per kilo.

The seafood, once a dish presented to the king, is mostly caught in water off Lý Sơn Islands in Quảng Ngãi Province and Phú Quý Island of Bình Thuận Province.

The MPA said the voluntary team had to buy the red crab with roe from local islanders during the breeding season (between Lunar March and June) to return the female crabs to the water.

It has re-issued a warning to local fisherman not to catch the crab in the breeding season in order to protect seafood resources and help the sustainable growth of the important marine species.

The management has called local community and tourists to focus on responsible seafood consumption, plastic waste reduction, improve the ‘green’ tourism experience and help raise awareness on ocean sustainable development.

A report from the MPA unveiled that more than 130 spanner crab carrying roe had been returned to the ocean between 2021-25 by the MPA and the voluntary groups.

It also called for a gene protection programme for five endangered sea creatures – mummy fish, or sea cucumber (holothurian nobilis), abalone (haliotis sorenseni), tropical rock lobster (panulirus ornatus), maxima clam (tridacna maxima) and red seaweed (laurencia intermedia) – all listed as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which have been over-fished in waters off the islands.

A spanner crab carrying roe set to be released back to the ocean off Lý Sơn Islands of Quảng Ngãi Province. Photo courtesy of Lý Sơn Marine Protected Area

Lý Sơn Islands, 30km off the coast of Quảng Ngãi Province, was included in the area for designation as a Global Geo-Park dossier by UNESCO in 2017.

The Lý Sơn MPA, is one of 16 nationwide MPAs approved by the Prime Minister in a Master Plan, covering more than 7,900ha, including 7,113ha of seawater. It was home to 700 marine fauna species (coral reefs, fish, seaweed and crustaceans), of which 25 were endangered or in danger of extinction.

More than 61 hotel and guest houses and 63 home-stay services have been developed there over the past few decades.

Lý Sơn Islands, known as the Kingdom of Garlic in Việt Nam, has around 22,000 inhabitants, of whom 73 per cent make their living from farming garlic and spring onions, alongside fishing. VNS