Northern fishing season

(Baonghean) -Visiting Quynh Di (Quynh Luu) at the end of October, right at the time when people "enter" the anchovy season (locals call it "trang fish"). From the beginning of the fishing village, the strong smell of the sea from the fish has attracted visitors...

Visiting Thao Lam processing facility in Phu Loi 1 hamlet, many women are processing fish. Some are steaming and boiling, others are drying the fish, and another group is removing the fish heads and packing them in boxes. Quickly pushing the fish out to dry in the midday sun, Ms. Hoa - a resident of Phu Loi hamlet who works for the owner of Thao Lam facility said that she is paid 120,000 VND a day, plus lunch. If she works all night, she gets paid more. Working day and night, sometimes when the fish arrive in the middle of the night, women are mobilized to salt and immediately steam and boil the fish to ensure the fish is always fresh and delicious.



After being boiled, the fish is dried.

The owner of the facility, Thao Lam, said that his wife and he have been in the fish processing business for 7-8 years. On peak days, they collect about 10 tons of fresh fish, including mackerel and anchovies, creating jobs for 50-60 workers. Since the beginning of the season (1 month), the facility has purchased 500 tons of fish, equivalent to about 150 tons of products. “A few months ago, China stopped buying, many households here had a backlog of goods, my family alone had a few dozen tons, but now, at the same time as the anchovy season, China has started to buy goods again, so we process and consume everything. There are days when we sell a few dozen tons of products,” said Mr. Lam.

At Phuong Mai fish processing facility, groups took turns eating lunch. Over the hurried meal, the women said that it was the season so everyone tried to work extra. It was a bit hard but fun. On the inter-commune road, convoys of vehicles were rushing back and forth, a few container trucks pulled to the village entrance to "buy" goods. Prices were relatively high, mackerel was 18-20 thousand VND/kg, anchovies were a bit higher, priced at 25-30 thousand VND/kg.

Lunch at the family of Mr. Nguyen Duc Xan - Head of Phu Loi Processing Village, nearly 20 crew members toasted each other with a glass of wine after the offshore trip. Mr. Son - a crew member said that the recent trip was only over a week but the boat of the head of Xan alone caught more than 7 tons of fish. Usually, in the high production season, the price is lower, but the last trip was caught but the price did not decrease. Anchovies cost 16,000 VND/kg, mackerel is lower, reaching 8-10 thousand VND/kg. Men fish, women process. Mr. Xan said: In the past, the output was difficult, up to 70% of the facilities closed, but now that problem has been solved; the remaining goods, although at a loss, have been sold.

However, through the discussion, he also said that the current limitation, in addition to the output still depending on China, is still unstable, the most serious problem is pollution in craft villages. Due to the limited awareness of the people, production facilities, on the other hand, there is no funding, so the wastewater treatment system as well as the roads have not been invested in upgrading. Besides, the current production is still each person doing their own thing, not showing the community spirit. Quynh Di fish sauce and boiled fish products are known by many people, but the brand for the product has not been built yet. Those limitations have caused production to stop at a small, manual scale for a long time, which is also why the output and consumption of the product is still difficult.

Thu Huyen