Nghe An fishermen earn millions every night from squid photography

Dozens of fishing boats of fishermen in Tien Thuy commune (Quynh Luu) returned to port with tons of valuable squid on the morning of July 8. Photo: Viet Hung

Unlike offshore fishing vessels, flashing squid is caught by fishermen near shore using a trawl net - one of the most valuable specialties today. To catch this type of squid, fishermen often go out to sea in the evening, fish at night and return to port the next morning. Thanks to that, the squid has not been preserved with ice, so it is still fresh and has high value.

Because they were brought back to shore after one night of exploitation, the squid was still alive and sparkling. Photo: Viet Hung

Fisherman Nguyen Van Hung, working on fishing boat NA 0187TS, said that this year, catching flashing squid is harder than in previous years. However, on lucky days, each boat catches about 30-40 kg, and on less lucky days, it can be as much as 15-20 kg. Because they return to port after one night of fishing, the squid is still very fresh, and traders compete to buy it.

“On the return trip this morning, my boat caught 20 kg of flash squid, including about 4 large trays priced at 250,000 - 300,000 VND/kg, and 2 small trays priced at 150,000 VND/kg; the total income from selling squid was about 6 million VND. In addition, the boat also caught many other types of sea fish with a value of about 3 million VND" - Mr. Hung said.

Due to scarcity, traders compete to buy flash squid, priced from 150,000 - 300,000 VND/kg (depending on type). Photo: Viet Hung

Tien Thuy commune has 328 seafood fishing vessels, of which 157 are offshore vessels, the rest are nearshore fishing vessels with a variety of specialties such as crabs, mantis shrimp, sardines and especially flash squid. According to fishermen, after going out to sea about 10 - 15 nautical miles from land, at around 7 pm, fishermen will drop their nets to catch squid. About 30 minutes later, when observing that the net is heavy, fishermen pull it up and sort it. The big squids are put in trays, the sea fish are kept separately when returning to the dock for easy transport.

Every day, fishermen in Tien Thuy commune exploit 1.5 - 2 tons of squid, all of which are purchased by restaurants to reserve for the beach tourism season. Photo: Viet Hung

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly, a trader in Tien Thuy commune, said that at around 6 am, people gathered at the wharf to buy squid. Because this time the squid fishing business was not as successful as previous years, the purchase price was twice as high as before. Currently, the large squid with eggs, type 1, costs 300,000 VND/kg, type 2 costs 270,000 VND/kg, and the small ones cost from 150,000 - 200,000 VND/kg.

“When purchasing, the squids that are blinking and still alive are all bought by traders, and the name “blinking squid” comes from that. This type is bought up by tourist restaurants on the beach, and the price of squid this year is twice as high as last year,” said Ms. Ly.

With more than 50 boats regularly fishing for squid, after one night, fishermen in Tien Thuy commune can catch 1.5 - 2 tons of valuable flash squid; all of which will be purchased by traders and sold retail at markets in the district.

After returning to the port to import seafood, fishermen continue to repair fishing gear and prepare necessities to continue going to sea to exploit seafood, increasing income for their families.