This type of fish is considered a 'gold nugget of the sea', every time fishermen catch it, it causes a stir.
The golden croaker is an extremely rare fish, considered a "golden nugget of the sea", worth hundreds of millions, even billions. However, this fish is on the list of rare aquatic species in danger of extinction in Vietnam and needs to be protected.
The cases of fishermen catching yellow croaker fish caused a stir
Recently, many fishermen in our country caught strange fish suspected to begoldand are paid high prices. Some are sold for hundreds of millions of dong, even billions of dong.
Most recently, a group of fishermen in Da Nang caught a strange fish suspected to be a golden croaker weighing more than 3.5kg.
The leader of the People's Committee of Nai Hien Dong Ward (Son Tra District) shared with Tien Phong Newspaper that on August 7, Mr. Kieu Cong (Nai Hien Dong Ward) and some friends were fishing in the Nam O sea. While removing the net, Mr. Cong discovered a fish weighing more than 3.5 kg with strangely shiny scales. After bringing it to shore, many people thought that this fish was a rare golden croaker.
This is not the first time local fishermen have caught this type of fish.rare fishThis. Lao Dong Newspaper reported in September 2018 that Mr. Vo Thanh Son (also residing in Nai Hien Dong ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang city) and some fishermen went by boat to Da Nang bay to cast a line and caught a yellow croaker about 60cm long and weighing nearly 3.5kg.
March 2022, onefishermanIn Ky Xuan commune (Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province), a fish suspected to be a golden croaker weighing nearly 6kg and about 90cm long was also caught at sea. A leader of the Ky Xuan commune People's Committee confirmed to Thanh Nien newspaper that the lucky person who caught the fish suspected to be a rare golden croaker was Mr. Nguyen Tien Hieu (residing in Le Loi village, Ky Xuan commune).
Before that, many coastal residents of Hoang Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province were excited about the fisherman Le Van Cuong (residing in Hoang Truong commune) catching a fish suspected to be a golden croaker.
The golden pomfret has a particularly high economic value. In our country, before 2005, the golden pomfret was sold for 5-7 million VND/kg. In 2007, the golden pomfret was priced at about 15-20 million VND/kg. Currently, the value of the golden pomfret has been pushed higher due to widespread trade and information development.
Every time fishermen catch a yellow croaker, they are immediately paid tens or hundreds of millions of VND, depending on the weight. In 2018, a pair of yellow croakers caught in Khanh Hoa was even paid up to 1.5 billion VND by traders. Many people are curious as to why yellow croakers are so expensive.
Why is yellow croaker so expensive?
Golden pompano has the scientific nameOtolithoides biauritus(also known as yellowfin croaker, double yellow croaker, headfish, sugar fish, paper croaker). This is a type of fish belonging to the croaker family of the perch order. This type of fish is distributed in India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and China. This type of fish is considered as expensive as gold in China and Vietnam.
The main habitat of the golden pompano is the sea, but during the breeding season (usually from January to April every year), they swim towards brackish estuaries to lay eggs. The young fish will swim into fresh water deep inland to live, and after 1-2 years will return to the sea. The weight of the golden pompano at this time is usually around 10kg. Adult fish are very large, a meter long and weigh several tens to hundreds of kilograms.
It is not difficult to recognize this fish with the following characteristics: wide and quite pointed mouth, sparkling turmeric yellow color, lower jaw extending to below the eye socket, strong teeth, long dorsal fin. In particular, the lower half of their body is silvery white with a slight pink tinge.
The meat of the golden pomfret is delicious and has a delicious flavor. The scales of the golden pomfret are very hard and are used to make guitar picks for guitar players, sold to Japan and Europe.
However, the most expensive thing that creates the high value of the golden pomfret fish is not the meat or the gold scales, but the fish's bladder. Because the dried golden pomfret fish bladder is said to have nutritional value equal to ginseng.
In addition, in modern medicine, the bladder of the yellow croaker is used to produce biodegradable sutures in surgeries. It is reported that the price of the bladder of the yellow croaker can reach 45,000-55,000 USD/kg depending on the length of the bladder.
According to experts, in our country, the golden croaker is one of the rare aquatic species in danger of extinction, needing to be protected, restored and developed (according to Decision No. 82 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued in 2008).
Accordingly, the act of buying and selling yellow croaker fish can be fined. Stipulated in Clauses 3 and 4, Article 7 of Decree 103/2013, the fine for one of the acts of buying, selling, collecting, raising, storing, processing rare aquatic species at risk of extinction will be from 20-40 million VND if the aquatic mass is less than 10 kg. The fine can be up to 80-100 million VND if the aquatic mass is over 30 kg.
But many people who catch yellow croaker fish still openly sell them because of the high profits.