Quang Nam (VNS/VNA) - It’ssunrise on the Cham Islands. Members of the local land crab cooperative rushhome with baskets full of crabs after a night hunting in the hilly forest. Thecatch is reported to the cooperative management board before their shell sizeis measured and, if they meet the criteria, a label attached denoting they arefor legal sale at the market.

Nguyen Duy Khanh, 38, head of the cooperative,is waiting for the hunters to return to the cooperative centre, where he willcheck the catch. Only crabs with a shell at least 7cm long will head to themarket.

“It’sa strictly-enforced rule aimed at ensuring the sustainable protection andconservation of land crabs,” he explained. “Labels are only attached on crabs thatmeet the criteria for sale, while pregnant or smaller crabs are released backinto the forest.”

“Eachmember of the cooperative is permitted to catch only 50 crabs, or 8kg, eachseason, which lasts from March to late July,” he said.

Khanhsaid the cooperative wasestablished to ensure the community-based management and exploitation of thenatural resource, helping islanders increase their earnings while protectingthe natural environment.

Thecooperative and its 42 members also work to ensure harmony between people andnature, and only members are permitted to catch crab in the forest.

Landcrabs (Gecarcoidea lalandii) - purpleshelled crustaceans - have become an eco-tour product that will support thesustainable development of the Cham Islands.

Twentykilometres off the coast of central Hoi Anancient city, a world biosphere reserve, theislands are the only place in the country to have successfully monitored andmanaged wild crab catching.

Visitorswill be unable to see any crabs at the local market during the reproductionseason, between July and October, when all catching is banned, Khanh adds.

Whenin season, he explained, crabhunters head into the forest at 6pm and stay there overnight, with each kiloselling for 1.2 million VND (52 USD), which is a handy sum when added toregular incomes from fishing and tourism services like driving motorbike taxisor boats, guiding tours, and diving.

“The25 members of the cooperative have benefited from zero interest loans of 150million VND (6,500 USD) from the Global Environment Facility(GEF), to support the sustainable protection and conservation of land crabspecies,” Khanh said.

Thefund encourages members to strictly follow the “no crab catching” ban in placebetween August and February.

Accordingto experts from the Cham Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA), eachpurple-shelled crab produces as many as 27,000 offspring each year, but only 3percent survive. Mother crabs often move from the forest to the sea for sevendays to lay eggs. Baby crabs must then seek a way back to the forest, and thefemales among them will reproduce 16 years later.

Khanhsaid an adult crab, with a shellsize from 7cm to 12cm, needs these 16 years to fully grow in an area of theforest with abundant food sources.

DrChu Manh Trinh from the Cham IslandsMPA says the establishment of the cooperative has ended over-catching andillegal hunting of crabs.

“Onlypeople with power can protect their natural surroundings,” he said. “Community-based management has generatedsuccess stories, and the Cham Islands is a great example of sustainabledevelopment at work.

“Managementhas also helped boost the value of the islands’ crab ‘brand’ in recent decades,which benefits conservation efforts.”

Thecommunity has established a crab protection team, he says, which monitorsover-catching and illegal hunting.

Areport from the Cham Islands MPA notes that about 7,000 crabs are caught eachyear and 75 percent of the islands’ crab population are conserved.

Trinhexplained that the sustainableexploitation of the crabs guarantees livelihood for islanders into the future,with all involved having a stake in reducing over-catching and massexploitation.

Theislands are the only place in Vietnam with a“land crab bank” - a free crab-catching zone on Dai Islet, one of eight islets making up the ChamIslands.

Nguyen Van Phong, a member of staff at the ChamIslands MPA, said crabconservation is appealing to many tourists visiting the islands, along with a“Say No” to plastic bags campaign instituted in the community and amongtourists since 2011.

Manyislanders, he says, can earn more money from providing services such ashomestays, motorbike rentals, boat trips to islets, diving, or trekking.

Tran Quy Tay fromthe Cham Islands People’s Committee said atleast 40 percent of local people earn a living from tourism and not justfishing.

Lifefor the islanders was previously reliant upon fishing, Trinh said, but eco-tours and environmentalprotection have changed the islands’ economic structure towards sustainability.

Challenges to address

Thedirector of the Cham Islands-Hoi An MPACentre, Tran Thi Hong Thuy, says mass tourism has come with majorchallenges for the islands as an excessive number of boat trips from themainland will threaten its rich ecosystem.

Thedemand for seafood among increasing numbers of tourists will also lead toover-fishing offshore.

Thuy recalled that a large area of sea grass wasdestroyed between 2009 and 2018, while tourist numbers have increased by afactor of 20 since 2009.

Shesaid about a hundred restaurants,shops, seafood agents, and homestay services have appeared on the islands,which combined with the building of road infrastructure have cleared 102ha ofspecial use forest (out of a total 1,500ha of forested area) over the last decade.

TheCham Islands-Hoi An World Biosphere Reserve,which covers more than 33,000ha, was recognised by UNESCO in 2009. It has1,500ha of tropical forests and 6,700ha of ocean area boasting a wide range ofmarine flora and fauna.

Theislands are the only location in Vietnam banning the use of plastic bags and promoting “3Rs” (reduce, reuse, andrecycle) programmes, since 2011.

Khanhsaid each member of the cooperativecan earn 25 million VND (over 1,000 USD) or more in total from crab hunting beingstrictly controlled.

Thecooperative has also been farming mushrooms and other organic crops, he added, creating more income-earningopportunities for members and easing over-exploitation of forests and oceans./.