Unique village specializing in hunting 'flying shrimp' in Nghe An

When the rice harvest season comes,flying shrimp” (also known as locusts) grow and gather in large numbers in rice fields. Every year, at this time, dozens of families in Quynh Thanh commune (Quynh Luu) spread out everywhere to set traps and hunt locusts.

Along provincial road 537B down to the coastal communes in Quynh Luu, under the fields, people of Quynh Thanh commune are working hard to set nets and traps to catch this type of insect.

People in Quynh Thanh commune (Quynh Luu) set traps to catch locusts. Photo: Viet Hung.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tai, a resident of Quynh Thanh commune, said: "There are two rice harvests a year, so people in the village take advantage of this opportunity to hunt for locusts to earn extra income. Every day, on average, a family of 3 workers in the house goes to all communes and districts to set traps and catch locusts.

Since the beginning of the season, traders have been buying at very high prices, so my family earns 1.5 - 2 million VND per day. If we are willing to travel far, this income can last for the whole month. There is no job that can earn more while protecting the crops."

A few fields away, a group of people from Quynh Thanh commune were chasing locusts in Quynh Yen. They set up a net hundreds of meters long in the field, then two people held two ends of a rope and chased the locusts towards the trap.

Alarmed, the "flying shrimp" hiding under the straw roots immediately flew towards the trap. At this time, the people quickly folded the net and collected the results. Mr. Ho Van Thanh happily told the results: "Each time we caught about 5 kg of locusts, the money was about 600,000 VND; in the morning, we were determined to catch 3-4 times like this before going home."

Once the trap is set, people use ropes to chase the locusts towards the trap and then gather them in one place. Photo: Viet Hung

According to the peoplelocust hunting, this year there are fewer locusts than previous years so the catch has also decreased, but traders buy at high prices. Like last year, at this time, the import price of "flying shrimp" was from 70,000 - 80,000 VND/kg, this year it has increased to 140,000 VND/kg (a record high price ever). Particularly for the smaller type, the price can be up to 200,000 VND/kg (traders buy this type to import to bird feed processing facilities).

Taking advantage of the time when people are harvesting rice, people in Quynh Thanh village (Quynh Luu) travel dozens of kilometers to Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau districts... to hunt for locusts. Around the end of the afternoon every day, people bring hundreds of tons of "flying shrimp" to two purchasing facilities in Quynh Thanh commune (Quynh Luu) and Quynh Thien ward (Hoang Mai town) and they immediately have "real rice".

Mr. Nguyen Van Tai, a resident of Quynh Thanh commune, said that during the rice harvest season, local people go to many places inside and outside the district to hunt for locusts. From a few hunters, now the whole commune has hundreds of people following this profession and this job has been with the people for more than 10 years.

Each group of people who hunt locusts are all relatives in the same family. During their free time, they arrange time to go around the fields to hunt.

To have fishing tools, people buy 1-2 sets of thick mesh nets hundreds of meters long and sticks to make a frame for the enclosure. The cost of a set of tools for hunting locusts is about 1-2 million VND but can be used for 3-4 years.

When asked about the experience of hunting many locusts, Mr. Ho Van Thanh in Quynh Thanh (Quynh Luu) shared that this job not only requires diligence and perseverance, but also requires people to exploit areas with a lot of locusts. Currently, people are following the experience of scouting the fields. If they see a lot of locusts flying, they immediately gather everyone to set traps; the most important thing is how to set the traps in the right direction for the locusts to fly into.

Flying shrimp are brought to purchasing points. Photo: Viet Hung

Locusts will be cleaned by purchasing facilities, packed in refrigerated styrofoam boxes and sent to the northern provinces for consumption. Locusts are insects that destroy farmers’ crops and are now considered a specialty of the countryside. This is what makes the price of “flying shrimp” so high during this time.

According to research at Chuc Son market (Hanoi), after flying shrimp were imported from Nghe An, the selling price increased. Grasshoppers with legs and wings cost 200,000 - 250,000 VND/kg. The type with clean wings cut off costs 300,000 VND. Although the price is high, it is caught in the right season and is safe, so this specialty is sought after by gourmets in the city or restaurants to prepare dishes./.