Nghe An crab prices increase every day during the holidays

At night, many children and adults in Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Do Luong... go to the fields with lights to "hunt" for crabs to sell to traders. Photo: Xuan Hoang

The 4-day holiday on April 30 and May 1 this year is an opportunity for farmers in Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Dien Chau districts... to take advantage of going to the fields to "hunt" for crabs to sell to traders, because the price of crabs increases every day.

However, people said that at this time, the spring rice is about to be harvested, so localities close the river to dry the fields, making it easier to harvest, causing fewer crabs to come out of their burrows, so the amount of crabs caught is less than when the fields are full of water.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Que in Nam Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) said that when the rice was growing, every field had a lot of water, many crabs crawled out, and every night she caught about 1 kg of crabs. But at this time, most of the fields were dry, and few crabs came out of their holes, so every night she only caught 5-6 taels. However, the current price of crabs is 80,000 VND/kg, so the income is equivalent to 10 days ago when the price of crabs was only 50,000 VND/kg.

The field crabs that people catch are wild crabs, favored by people in Hanoi and the northern provinces to prepare specialty dishes. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, a crab trader in Long Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) said: Since the government eased the quarantine due to the Covid-19 epidemic until now, especially during this holiday, the price of field crab has increased every day. Specifically: On April 21, the price of crab was only 50,000 VND/kg, after April 22, the price gradually increased, by April 28 it was 65,000 VND/kg and after only 3 days the price of crab jumped to 80,000 VND/kg. It is expected that the price of crab will increase in the coming days, because at this time crab is scarce and difficult to catch, while the demand for field crab in Hanoi and other cities is increasing.

"When the fields have enough water, we can buy over 300 kg of crabs per day, but at this time we can only buy 150 kg per day," Mr. Tan added.

Field crabs are packed in sacks, soaked in cold water before being transported for consumption. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Currently, due to the high price of crabs, farmers are actively going to the fields to "hunt" for crabs to earn more income. Traders buy during the day, packing all the crabs into sacks to send by bus to Hanoi and some other cities for consumption.

In Yen Thanh area, there are 5-6 people who specialize in buying field crabs. When crabs are easy to catch, every night Yen Thanh has about 1.5 tons of crabs loaded onto passenger buses to Hanoi to process into specialty dishes. But at this time, crabs are hard to catch and in short supply.

Traders said that to minimize crab loss and death, after packing the crabs in sacks, they use ice to chill them until they stop moving, then they are loaded onto trucks for sale./.