Eradicate earthworms

Posing as people who wanted to learn about dried earthworms, the group of reporters met the owner of a worm slaughterhouse who called himself Lich, in village 12, Dong Son commune, Tam Diep city. It was called a slaughterhouse but in reality it was just a temporary shack, roofed deep in the corner of the garden. Entering this area, the stench was very unpleasant. Even more heartbreaking was the sight of two men quickly slaughtering dozens of kilograms of earthworms.

According to observations, the worms here are very large, estimated to be as big as an adult's finger, about 40-50 cm long. A young man picks up the worms and puts them into a gutting machine. The wastewater is discharged directly into the garden, and flies and flies fly in, creating a foul smell. Thousands of worms are quickly processed under that cutting blade. Another person is responsible for washing these worms to dry them.

In the shabby, dusty kitchen, two other people are arranging the pre-processed worms on a steel tray. This is the step before drying the worms.

The owner of the slaughterhouse here said: Every day, his slaughterhouse receives about 400 kg of fresh worms from households in the commune and neighboring communes. The worms are caught by electric shock in mountainous areas and rice fields in the province, so the worms do not have their bodies damaged, and the quantity is stable.

Currently, this person's family also provides electric shock machines to 40 people in the province in the form of "renting". On average, each machine can exploit 10 kg of fresh worms or even more per day.

Another man named Vinh, from Cuc Phuong Commune, Nho Quan District, introduced: Every day he can collect about 1-2 quintals of fresh earthworms to sell to slaughterhouses. The worms collected are large, weighing 20-25 worms/kg (about the size of an adult's finger) and are mainly caught in the hills of Nho Quan and Hoa Binh.

This guy said that he only needs to invest in a Chinese electric shock machine that costs 5-6 million VND to be able to "practice his profession". When using it, just connect the two ends of the electric wire to two screwdrivers. Then plug the screwdriver into the ground. The machine will emit a very loud buzzing sound. The worms from big to small underground will start to rise.

Those that are not big enough are sold to fishing ponds or animal feed mills. Many are even left to die of electric shock, sunstroke, and die on the ground.

Unforeseen consequences

Currently, fresh earthworms are purchased at 40-60 thousand VND/kg; dried earthworms are sold for 700,000-900,000 VND/kg. With such high profits, many people have defied the law, secretly attacking earthworms, leaving them with no way to survive.

It is worth mentioning that when asked, none of the "suppliers" knew the main purpose of purchasing worms. Everyone only vaguely said that they would sell them to China for medicine, cosmetics, etc. Just seeing the high profits and the availability of raw materials underground, many people forgot about the future dangers.

There are no statistics yet, but it can be confirmed that the number of earthworms caught and brutally killed every day is up to tens of tons. Because according to the owner of the slaughterhouse named Lich, Dong Son commune, Tam Diep city, in this locality alone, there are 3 people who have invested in dryers and slaughterhouses.

According to the representative of the provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection: Earthworms play an extremely important role in agricultural production. They are likened to a biological plow for farmers, making the soil loose and porous, and are also an important link in the transformation of nutrients, creating conditions for the production of organic substances beneficial to plants, helping plants grow well.

When catching earthworms by electric shock, it will cause massive damage and destruction to worms and other organisms in the soil. Therefore, it will cause soil environment degradation, negatively affecting agricultural production.

The practice of stimulating and catching earthworms with electric shocks is taking place in some localities in the province, causing public outrage and leaving behind unpredictable consequences. In fact, the lessons from the strange traders who collected golden apple snails, leeches, custard apple leaves, young oranges, young areca nuts, dragon fruit flowers, etc. in the past are still there. No one knows what they buy those things for, only that after they leave, farmers have to "reluctantly" bear the bitter fruit.

The act of catching earthworms by electric shock violates the prohibition stipulated in Clause 2, Article 7 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2014. However, currently, because there is no sanction for the act of using electric shock machines to catch worms, the only way to stop is to make a record and give a warning, which is not enough of a deterrent.

Meanwhile, the subjects who use electric shock to catch earthworms often operate at midnight, in rainy weather, in mountainous areas, and have difficulty traveling. Therefore, to protect earthworms, localities need to strengthen inspection and supervision in the field of environmental protection; proactively grasp the situation, detect and promptly handle subjects who use electric shock to catch worms, causing ecological imbalance and affecting the environment.

In addition, sectors, levels and localities need to actively propagate to raise awareness for people, avoid destroying the environment and agriculture of our country for immediate profits. Especially when the rainy season is approaching - the time when, according to worm catchers, it is the easiest season to catch the largest quantity.

Article and photos: Hoang Bach - Minh Hai