After the rain, Nghe An farmers happily go hunting for snails and freshwater fish.
(Baonghean.vn) - In recent days, heavy rains have occurred in Nghe An, farmers have gone to rivers and canals in the area to catch snails, fish... to earn millions of dong every day.
The nearly month-long heat wave ended with showers, and water has returned to the rivers; taking advantage of this opportunity, farmers in Quynh Thanh commune (Quynh Luu) brought their nets to the rivers and canals to hunt for "specialties" such as snails and perch.
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| After the rains, farmers in Quynh Thanh commune (Quynh Luu) go to rivers and canals to catch snails and fish. Photo: Viet Hung |
At Ben Hai canal flowing from Quynh Thach commune to Quynh Thanh, people are gathering to spread nets to catch shrimp and fish. Mr. Nguyen Van Huong - the net puller said that after heavy rains, shrimp and fish appeared in abundance in rivers and canals. To improve his family's meals, he and some people brought nets to catch fish. The nets pulled up were heavy with fish such as: snakehead fish, tilapia, eel, loach and especially apple snails. These are "specialties" that sell well during the rainy season.
"The more it rains, the more fish and snails flow into the river. On lucky days, a net can bring in 30-40 kg of shrimp and various fish, including about 20 kg of apple snails, bringing in an income of 1-2 million VND," said Mr. Huong.
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| Black apple snails are valuable and are caught in large numbers by people. Photo: Viet Hung |
Mr. Bui Minh Tao, a member of the net-pulling team, said that to catch fish, we have to go to rivers and canals in some localities in the district. If we encounter water hyacinth, we will spread nets together to pull the water hyacinth to the shore. Although it is more difficult, it is a double job, catching fish and clearing the flow of the rivers.
"After about 20 minutes of fishing, we catch dozens of kilos of apple snails, snakehead fish, and perch; in addition to improving our family's meals, we also earn an additional income of 100,000 - 200,000 VND/day."
In many other localities with rivers and canals such as Quynh Hoa, Quynh Thach, Quynh My, Quynh Thang... farmers are all excited to go fishing for apple snails.
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| After a day of catching snails and freshwater fish, each person earns from 100,000 to 200,000 VND; currently, black snails are purchased by traders for 60,000 VND/kg. Photo: Viet Hung |
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, a resident of Quynh Thach commune, during the rainy or flood season, snails breed a lot. Taking advantage of the free time, people go to the canals to wade to catch them; this job only requires wading in the canals to earn an income of 100,000 - 150,000 VND/person/day.
"After catching the snails, people will collect them and traders will come to buy them; currently, the purchase price of black snails is 60,000 VND/kg" - Mr. Hung added.
During rainy days, due to the high demand for apple snail specialties, prices in the markets have also "escalated"; currently, apple snails cost 80,000 - 90,000 VND/kg (an increase of 10,000 VND/kg); snakehead fish is sold at the same price of 90,000 - 120,000 VND/kg, tilapia is 40,000 - 60,000 VND/kg.
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| On rainy days, freshwater fish are sold in many rural markets. Photo: PV |
