Wading through mud to spread nets to harvest red carp before the Kitchen God's day to heaven

(Dan Tri) - These days, people in Thuy Tram village (Tuy Loc commune, Cam Khe district, Phu Tho) are busy spreading nets and wading through mud to harvest red carp to meet the great demand of people on the day the Kitchen Gods go to heaven.

Thuy Tram village (Tuy Loc commune, Cam Khe district, Phu Tho) has been known for its carp farming for decades. With the soil conditions of the fields located in low-lying areas, favorable for digging ponds for aquaculture, the people here have chosen red carp breeds to release and breed, bringing economic benefits and helping to improve their lives.

On the days leading up to the farewell to the Kitchen Gods (December 23), this place is bustling with people draining ponds, setting nets to catch red carp, and traders flocking to buy and bring to markets in many northern provinces. Pumps operate at full capacity to drain water from fish ponds, the sound of the engines echoing throughout the fields.

From the 6th lunar month, instead of raising white carp as usual, people here have switched to raising red carp to serve the Ong Cong, Ong Tao festival taking place at the end of the year.

Mr. Phan Van Huu, who has been involved in fish farming in the village for more than 10 years, said that at present, traders have not come to buy many fish, the price is about 80,000-100,000 VND/kg of red carp. However, as the day of Ong Cong and Ong Tao approaches, the price will change hourly, like last year's fish crop, at one point Mr. Huu sold it for 200,000 VND/kg.

After being scooped up, the fish will be classified and brought to the net area placed along the canal banks.

The sorting is also done manually and takes a lot of time. Grass carp and catfish mixed together will be filtered separately, and large red carp will be kept for breeding.

The water is low, people here continue to wade through the mud to pick up the last remaining fish in the fields.

Beautiful red carp must ensure the red color, the fish are of the same size. One kilogram is about 30-35 fish and the fish must not have head or tail spots.

Some pond owners also build cement tanks containing water and pumping in oxygen to help the fish adapt to the new environment, avoiding suffocation and death before traders come to buy and transport them long distances.

Since 2011, Phu Tho province has recognized the Thuy Tram Red Carp Production Village and created favorable conditions for investment in infrastructure, especially the water supply and drainage system to develop the craft village. In December 2017, the Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Science and Technology also certified the Thuy Tram Red Carp brand.

Convoys of trucks busily transport fish to wholesale points and fish markets in all northern provinces.

Mr. Ha Cong Xuan (70 years old, Thuy Tram village) shared that he has been raising carp for 30 years now. This year, he saw that the number of households raising fish in the village has decreased, but the fish yield has increased significantly. Many pond owners in the village have harvested several hundred kilograms of fish.

Many traders went directly to the village to buy fish and received fish packed in plastic bags containing water and pumped with oxygen to prevent suffocation so that the fish could survive well during the long journey.

Manh Quan - Dantri.com.vn