Farmers drag nets to catch shrimp for hire, earning millions every day

Farmers in Quynh Thanh commune (Quynh Luu) bring nets to shrimp ponds to harvest shrimp for households. Photo: Viet Hung

Quynh Luu is a district with a large shrimp farming area of ​​460 hectares. Up to now, people have harvested about 100 hectares of shrimp with an output of more than 250 tons. It is expected that from now until the end of July, people will finish harvesting the remaining shrimp area.

During the shrimp harvest season, the trawlers work continuously, they go to the ponds to catch shrimp for the owners. Mr. Ho Van Xinh - a trawler in hamlet 12, Quynh Thanh commune said that from mid-May until now, his 3 sets of trawlers have been continuously borrowed by shrimp farmers. In addition to bringing the trawlers, he also mobilized 3-4 workers to go with him to catch the nets for hire.

Net pullers have to wade into the pond to spread the net around the pond. Photo: Viet Hung

"Pulling nets to catch shrimp for hire requires 3-5 people. Since the shrimp harvest, we have been diving into the pond every day to pull shrimp for hire. During the mass harvest season, on average, a worker is paid about 500,000 - 700,000 VND/day (depending on the pond area and output); my family invested in a net combined with pulling, so the income is higher" - Mr. Xinh shared.

Quynh Thanh commune currently has 75 hectares of shrimp farming area in harvest season. During this time, 8 households with fishing nets are operating continuously.

Mr. Le Van Bay, a hired net puller, said that a set of fishing nets measuring more than 100 meters long and 6 meters wide costs 20 million VND, with each household buying 2-3 sets on average. When someone hires them to harvest shrimp, these households will contact a group of workers to go with them and bring along the net. After harvesting shrimp, the shrimp farmers will pay the net pullers according to the harvested output, paying 600,000 VND for every 1 ton...

The shrimp were neatly contained in the net. Photo: Viet Hung

For shrimp farmers, after 3 months of hard work in taking care of the shrimp during the harvest season, investing in a set of shrimp trawl nets is not difficult. However, this job requires manpower and experience, so most of them do not invest but rent them out during the harvest season.

According to Mr. Cao Dinh Thien - the owner of a shrimp farming household in Quynh Thanh commune, most of the farming households hire a team to pull nets to harvest shrimp instead of investing in buying their own nets. Shrimp at the harvest stage often do not go as planned, they have to be harvested promptly, so it is necessary to have a team to pull nets for hire, when called they will be present at the pond immediately; more importantly, they have experience in pulling nets so that shrimp are neatly contained in the net, avoiding the need to pull again.

The investment for the forest net is about 20 million VND, the size of the net is more than 100 meters long and 6 meters wide. Photo: Viet Hung

"With a pond area of ​​over 1,500 m², the family is harvesting the second batch of shrimp, the expected yield is about 7 tons of shrimp; the cost of pulling the net is more than 4 million VND" - Mr. Thien said.

Not only in Quynh Thanh commune, currently localities with large shrimp farming areas such as Quynh Bang, Quynh Minh, Quynh Luong, Quynh Yen, An Hoa... also have a team of experienced net pullers and shrimp catchers with hundreds of people. These people work seasonally, starting from May to the end of July, then from September to December and can last for the third crop.