(Baonghean.vn) - Making traps and catching eels is a long-standing traditional occupation in Van Trang village, Long Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. The occupation not only creates jobs for workers during the off-season but also brings high income to the people.
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| From January to September (lunar calendar) is the time when Van Trang village is bustling with the craft of making traps to catch eels. Especially when the spring and summer-autumn rice plants are at the stage of standing, forming ears and flowering, it is the time when eels grow strongly, so customers from many places in and outside the district come to buy traps to catch eels. |
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| The village has 132 households, of which 2/3 are engaged in this profession and have created jobs for over 100 workers, with each household having a stable income of 6 to 8 million VND/month on average. |
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| According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Chinh, who has over 20 years of experience in making bamboo baskets, this is not a hard job, the investment capital is low, but the worker must be persistent and meticulous in each stage. The bamboo tree used to make bamboo baskets must be old, with a diameter of 2.7-3 cm; each tube must be over 50 cm long. The tail of the basket is sealed with bamboo eyes, with ventilation holes; the head of the basket is smoothed with a sharp knife and covered with a cone-shaped bamboo lid. |
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| The unique feature of the eel traps here is that they are made of bamboo, rattan and reed. The materials are purchased from mountainous districts in the province, so the price is low, and does not affect the ecological environment in the fields and ponds. When the eels enter the trap to eat bait, they can live for a long time without dying like traps made of polymer pipes. |
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In order for each trap to catch many eels, one of the important factors is the stage of making the trap lid. Accordingly, the lid is woven from old bamboo strips, tied together with bamboo fibers, creating both durability and firmness. This is the most difficult stage, requiring high technique, the bamboo strips and bamboo strings must be split very thin and smooth, so that when luring eels in to eat the bait easily, the skin is not scratched and the eels trapped inside cannot crawl out. |
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| Most of the young people in Van Trang village do not have to go far to work. In addition to making traps, they also have a job of catching eels; each person also buys 150-200 traps, catching an average of 2 kg of eels each night, according to the current market price, they also have an additional source of income of nearly 200 thousand VND. |
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| Eels caught with traps and released into the fields are a specialty of Nghe An. |
Thai Duong - Dai Yen Thanh.
