Catching "live-eating" fish in Phu Quoc, fishermen earn millions every day

From early morning, fishermen in Tran Phu fishing village (Duong Dong ward, Phu Quoc city) happily returned to the mainland with nets hundreds of meters long, heavy with "heavenly blessings".

People classify herring and yellowstripe scad (Photo: Bao Tran).

Every day, about 30 boats anchor near Tran Phu fishing village, loaded with herring. The atmosphere of the fishing village this season is quite bustling, everyone is busy.

According to fishermen, dawn is when herrings move in schools to look for food, appearing densely, creating sparkling white beams of light from 2am to 5am.

Phu Quoc in the season of "raw fish" specialty

Herring swims at a depth of about 2-5m, 10 nautical miles (18.5km) from shore. Therefore, fishermen only need to shine a light in the direction of the fish's swimming light, then circle the area and join forces to spread a net hundreds of meters long to catch the first batches of herring of the season.

After 15-20 minutes, when the net feels heavy, the fishermen will pull it up and place it neatly in the boat's hold. On the hundreds of meters long net, fish are stuck all over. At that time, 3-4 people will work together to remove the fish, another person will be responsible for sorting them. There are many types of fish caught in the net, but the most are herring or yellowstripe scad.

Herring season is the season that helps Mr. Ngo Hoai Dua's family's income increase sharply (Photo: Bao Tran).

With his hands deftly removing the herrings stuck densely on the net, Mr. Ngo Hoai Dua (58 years old, living in Tran Phu fishing village) excitedly said that the herring season in Phu Quoc sea is earlier than in other seas. Each trip out to sea, fishermen can earn from 3 to 4 quintals of herrings or more, earning up to several million VND/day.

According to Mr. Dua, the herring season starts from September to about March of the following year (according to the lunar calendar). His boat has 3 workers, during this season they usually go out to sea from 2am to 8am.

Herring is a specialty in Phu Quoc (Photo: Bao Tran).

In recent days, each trip at sea lasts 7-8 hours, Mr. Dua can catch 500kg - 1 ton of herring, two to three times more than usual.

"The weather is sunny and the waves are light, so there are a lot of herring. I have a dozen nets, about 1,000m long, and each time I pull them, I catch a few hundred kilograms, sometimes a ton of fish," said Mr. Dua.

Along the nearly 2km long coastline, temporary shelters are considered gathering points after the boats carrying heavy fishing nets return, each family must mobilize more relatives to remove the fish. Many traders who come to buy fish also support fishermen to remove the fish in time to sell at the market.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Trinh (a herring trader in Duong Dong ward) said: "At this time in Phu Quoc, there are many herrings, I buy from 15,000 to 40,000 VND/kg depending on size and time. I buy fish and then sell them to restaurants, eateries, and markets. They often make salads, grill, braise,... many dishes".

Herring salad (Photo: TH).

In addition to importing for traders, Phu Quoc fishermen also bring fish to local markets for retail sale.

According to traders, for every 100 kg of herring, fishermen can earn more than 2 million VND. If all labor and fuel costs are deducted, they can earn more than 1 million VND/100 kg of fish.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/vay-bat-loai-ca-an-song-o-phu-quoc-ngu-dan-kiem-tien-trieu-moi-ngay-20241015233720469.htm