Nghe An: Unique way to hunt stone crabs and earn millions every day

To hunt for sea crabs, fisherman Tran Xuan Au in Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town) uses "crab ball" traps and drops them into rocky caves. Photo: Viet Hung

Starting from mid-March is the time when fishermen in Quynh Lap coastal area (Hoang Mai town) concentrate on hunting for the specialty sea crab. To hunt this specialty, fishermen must have unique tricks to be able to trap their prey.

In addition to using traps to hunt stone crabs, fishermen also hunt by casting nets. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Tran Xuan Au, who has more than 10 years of experience at sea, said that stone crabs are a specialty that usually appear from March to July. To catch them, fishermen must buy hundreds of "crab balls" to place in underwater caves; especially to attract them into the trap, people must make bait boxes by putting trash fish in the cage and then releasing them into the sea.

"Sea crabs usually live under rock caves. In the summer, they often appear in large numbers and come out, making them easy to catch. During the main season, after one night of setting traps, we can catch about 70 - 90 kg of rock crabs, earning nearly ten million VND," said Mr. Au.

Inside the trap, fishermen make a bait box with trash fish to lure stone crabs to eat. Photo: Viet Hung

Stone crab trapped. Photo by Viet Hung

According to the experience of stone crab fishermen, this specialty usually lives in areas with reefs. People have to use rowboats to row out to the rocky beaches to drop each trap. Usually, they drop at 5 pm and pull them up at 5 am the next morning.

It is not yet the peak season, so fishermen can catch about 10-20 kg per day. Starting in the third lunar month, the weather will be hot, and there will be a lot of stone crabs, and fishermen can catch about 50-100 kg. With a selling price of 100,000 VND/kg, during the peak season, fishermen here earn from 5-10 million VND/day.

There are two types of stone crabs: the dark red type with big claws costs 100,000 VND/kg; the crab-colored type with small claws costs 40,000 VND/kg. Photo: Viet Hung

According to Mr. Ho Van Hung, in the Quynh Lap sea area, fishermen have a tradition of hunting stone crabs. After each sea trip, all the stone crab specialties are purchased by traders and distributed to restaurants in and outside the province.

“Compared to other coastal areas, Quynh Lap has the most stone crabs. During the tourist season, dozens of local households that hunt stone crabs make a lot of money because of the high demand,” Mr. Hung added.

After being caught, traders from everywhere come to buy and store the fish domestically. Photo: Viet Hung

In Quynh Lap commune, there are currently about 20 households participating in nearshore fishing combined with stone crab hunting concentrated in Tan Minh and Dong Minh hamlets. In addition, some fishermen in Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu) also often hunt this species by netting, or going to caves to set traps; many people even dive into the sea to find and catch them.

The most attractive dishes of stone crab are grilled, boiled, or fried with salt and pepper... very suitable for summer. Photo: Viet Hung

Stone crab is a species of crab that lives on the coast, with a dark purple shell, a solid body, short and large female claws, and an average weight of 100 - 200gr. This species of crab usually goes out to feed at night, and during the day it hides in caves along the coast. The most delicious part of the sea crab is the female claws, the meat is firm and sweet, containing a lot of protein. The most attractive stone crab is grilled, boiled, fried with salt and pepper... very suitable for the summer.