Eel fishing profession in Yen Thanh

(Baonghean.vn) - Hamlet 2 Xuan Thanh, Yen Thanh is famous for its trap-setting profession. Although it is hard work, it brings income to many families here, helping them earn extra money to cover their living expenses.

Nghe An eel is famous in the North and South, but few people know that to have this eel specialty, farmers have to work hard from morning to night. Yen Thanh is the province's rice granary and is also famous for its eel granary. One day in late July, following Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa and Ms. Phan Thi Tinh in Hamlet 2, Xuan Thanh, we went to the Gam market fields. The summer-autumn rice was lush green. After several days of rain, the fields were flooded, so the eel and fish were quite good.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa - who has been in the profession for 7-8 years, it is currently the off-season, so to have money to prepare for their children's purchases for the new school year, the women invite each other to catch eels. Every afternoon from 4-6 pm, they set traps, each time setting about 100-150 traps. In the morning, around 4-5 am, they go to collect them. To catch eels, the most important step is bait. Eels have the characteristic of hiding in the mud during the day, only coming up at night to look for food. They really like baits such as fish, chopped snails, especially earthworms.

"These days, there are dozens of eels in a basket, but there are also baskets with only a few, or even none at all," said Ms. Hoa.

It is known that in the past, there were a lot of eels in the rice fields of Yen Thanh. However, recently, because many people caught them, all the ditches and puddles were searched, so eels gradually decreased and became more and more scarce due to electric shock and chemicals.

Below are some pictures we captured:

Ms. Hoa and Ms. Tinh in Hamlet 2, Xuan Thanh, ride their bicycles carrying bags of eels to the field to prepare for setting them. Each night, each of them catches a few kilos of eels, and on lucky days, they catch more. With the price of about 70,000 - 80,000 VND/kg, each day they earn a few hundred extra to spend on their daily lives.

Night eel catching does not require capital. The eel catching tools are bamboo tubes, each about a meter long, hollow, with a diameter of 5-6 cm. One end is sealed, the other end is hollowed out so that the eels can easily get in but cannot get out.

To avoid losing the trap, night eel fishermen must have a good memory and know how to place it properly.

After choosing a location, clean the grass before placing the eel trap. One end of the trap will be stuck into the ground, the other end will be tilted 45 degrees, so that when the eel enters the trap mouth, it will still have air to breathe.

After placing more than 100 tubes, it was getting dark.

According to experts, eel meat contains many vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, B1, B6 or iron, sodium, potassium, calcium. Therefore, freshwater eel is a popular dish.

Viet Phuong