Unique eel catching skill using traps in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - In Yen Thanh district, (Nghe An), the profession of catching eels with nets has become professional with unique, family-preserved skills.

Bustling with the process of making bait to catch eels.

Mr. Nguyen Van Khai in Van Trang hamlet, Long Thanh commune, although only in his 20s, has been proficient in eel traps since childhood. According to him, catching eels is not an easy task. The old saying goes: "Fish are attracted by the traps, eels are intoxicated by the bait", in addition to the technical factor of making the traps, the step of making bait to lure eels into the traps is an important factor.

Mr. Nguyen Van Khai in Van Trang hamlet, Long Thanh commune is diligently putting bait into the trap.

Understanding the characteristics of eels, they like to eat baits with a fishy smell, especially earthworms. Therefore, people have caught and chopped earthworms and mixed them with mud, creating a characteristic strong fishy smell. This bait only needs to be lightly spread on the end of the lid, then covered in the mouth of the trap and released into the fields or canals. If in the past, the job of releasing traps required time to dig for earthworms, now households have known how to apply scientific and technological advances to raise earthworms in gardens with high humidity, thanks to which they have been proactive in baiting eels and not digging and damaging the banks of the fields.

Mr. Nguyen Canh Phuc, Hamlet 7, Xuan Thanh Commune, is looking for suitable rice fields to release rice bran.

Stopping by a rice field in the flowering stage, Mr. Nguyen Canh Phuc, hamlet 7, Xuan Thanh commune said: not all rice fields can be used for eels, you have to choose rice fields with deep mud, water level from 10-15cm, especially with many years of experience in the profession, just look at the surface of the field, if you find many holes, there will definitely be many eels there.

When releasing the traps, there must also be technique. The traps are placed between the rice furrows, the top of the trap has a lid and is lowered into the mud; the tail of the trap floats on the water surface, but absolutely do not let water flood the ventilation trench. If water overflows into the trap, when the eels come in to eat the bait, they will die from suffocation.

Traps placed properly can catch many eels.

After a night of releasing the traps, at around 5am the next morning, people go to the fields to collect the traps. Only eels that meet commercial standards are brought back to sell, and small ones are released back into the fields to continue growing. This is also a way to preserve the eel species, without destroying the ecosystem in the fields. A household with a few hundred traps can catch 2-3 kg of eels each night. According to the current market price, eels cost 95,000 VND/kg, so each night a household has a good source of income compared to other hard and tiring jobs.

After a night of release, the eels are brought home to select commercial eels for sale.

In recent years, thanks to the application of scientific and technological advances in the fields, the residual toxicity of pesticides has been limited; in addition, the irrigation system has also been invested in and upgraded, so the fields in Yen Thanh have many eels and they have developed strongly, wherever there is mud, there are eels living.

After being selected, the eels will provide a clean food source for many provinces and cities in the country.

In the past, people often brought eels to the retail market, but now almost every commune has an agent to buy for people, in Long Thanh commune alone there are 5 eel purchasing points. From here, the eels will be classified for commercial quality and then brought to big cities to sell and process into specialty dishes.

Sun