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Every year, around these days, fishermen in coastal areas in Thanh Hoa such as Sam Son City, Hoang Hoa District, Quang Xuong, Hau Loc enter the herring fishing season.

Rafts and small boats usually set sail at midnight. As dawn breaks, boats and rafts line up to go ashore to unload fish in time to sell to traders.

Working as a raft fisherman, Mr. Tran Van Tat - a fisherman residing in Trung Son ward, Sam Son city - said that every year during the herring season, he and his wife eagerly go out to sea. Each time they go ashore, they earn tens of millions of dong.

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Freshly caught fish are neatly picked into baskets. Photo: Le Duong

According to Mr. Tat, fishermen in Sam Son mainly use rafts or small-capacity boats to fish close to shore, about 3-5 nautical miles. They go out to sea from 2-3am, with 2 people on each boat, and fish until 8-9am the same day before returning to shore.

“During the herring fishing season, each boat catches about 100-200 kg on a low day, and 400-500 kg on a high day. With the current selling price of 25,000 VND/kg, after each trip, each boat can earn from several million to tens of millions of VND,” Mr. Tat shared.

Fishermen here say that during the year at sea, the herring season is the most popular time for people to go out to sea. Because herring always come in schools, they only need to go out to sea for a few hours to fill their boat.

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Traders come to collect fish right on the beach. Photo: Le Duong
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People are removing fish and arranging nets to prepare for the next trip out to sea. Photo: Le Duong

“On normal days, we fish all night and only get a few hundred kilos of fish, crabs, and shrimp (miscellaneous). When we sort and sell them, we earn from 1 to 1.5 million VND/day; after deducting fuel costs, we have about 1 million VND left. During the herring season, the fishing time is shorter, and the income is higher,” said fisherman Le Van Hung.

According to fishermen, herring in season is very fatty and fresh. This fish can be processed into many dishes such as grilled with rice paper, cooked in sour soup, braised... In addition, herring is also collected by traders and imported to facilities for freezing to make fish sauce, so when the boat reaches shore, the fish are sold out immediately.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, a trader, said that she has been collecting seafood for many years in the Sam Son beach area. After purchasing fish from fishermen, she sorts and sells them to other traders to bring to the market (grade 1), and the rest she sells to fish sauce factories.