Nghe An farmers 'hunt' tons of field crabs to sell to Hanoi every night

A crab purchasing point in Nam Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). Photo: Xuan Hoang

Every night, along National Highway 7B and Provincial Road 533 through the communes of Phu Thanh, Hong Thanh, Nhan Thanh, Xuan Thanh, Nam Thanh... farmers flock to bring crabs ashore to sell to traders. Therefore, the crab purchasing points become bustling from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga in Nam Thanh commune said that every day, after dinner, the mother and daughter take a flashlight, along with 2 plastic buckets, to the field to "hunt" for crabs. The flashlight is fully charged, the light is good, easily detecting crabs crawling under the water ditch. After about 2 hours, the mother and daughter go ashore to sell them to traders for 50,000 VND/kg. Every night like that, Ms. Nga and her daughter catch about 4 kg of crabs, earning 200,000 VND.

"A month ago, the price of crabs that traders bought was 60,000 VND/kg, but this month it has dropped to 50,000 VND/kg. Even though it's cheap, my mother and I still go to the fields to catch crabs to earn extra income," said Ms. Nga.

It is known that not only adults, but also children from 10 years old and up go to the fields to "hunt" crabs. The most people get 2 - 3 kg/night, the least get 0.5 kg/night.

Field crabs are purchased by traders... Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, a trader in Hamlet 1, Long Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh) who specializes in buying field crabs, said: All year round, he buys crabs in the communes of Long Thanh, Nam Thanh, Ly Thanh, Lien Thanh... On average, he buys about 300 kg of crabs per day. The crabs are packed tightly in sacks and sent by passenger van to Hanoi for consumption that same night.

According to Mr. Nga, currently in Yen Thanh area there are 5-6 people who specialize in buying field crabs. It is calculated that every night in Yen Thanh area, about 1.5 tons of crabs are loaded onto passenger buses to Hanoi to process into specialty dishes.

Field crabs are popular with Hanoians and are made into a specialty dish. Photo: Xuan Hoang

A crab trader in Xuan Thanh commune said that this is the time when the spring rice is forming ears, which is the time when crabs are fat and delicious, and students are on vacation, so they catch a lot of crabs in the fields at night. However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, restaurants in Hanoi have few customers, so consumption is slow, mainly people buy and process it themselves. Therefore, the price of crab has decreased from 60,000 to 50,000 VND/kg. In the summer, the price of crab is pushed up to 70,000 - 80,000 VND/kg.

According to the experience of crab traders, on days of heavy rain, people catch more crabs because they cast the octagonal net, and a lot of crabs come in. Especially after the spring rice harvest, there are countless crabs.

Field crabs are packed in sacks and sent by bus to Hanoi for consumption. Photo: Xuan Hoang

The demand for field crabs in Hanoi is high, so traders in Yen Thanh buy crabs all year round. According to estimates from field crab traders, Yen Thanh supplies the Hanoi market with a huge amount of field crabs each year, about 350 - 400 tons.

It is known that in addition to Yen Thanh district, in Nghe An, there are also farmers in some districts who regularly "hunt" for field crabs to transport to Hanoi for consumption: Do Luong, Dien Chau, Hung Nguyen...

Field crabs are naturally grown crabs, favored by consumers in large cities in the North, so this is also a side job with income for thousands of families in rural Nghe An.