Following the footsteps of people who set traps for eels
(Baonghean.vn) - The people of Nam Anh commune, Nam Dan district are famous for being diligent and hard-working. They do many side jobs to make a living, including catching eels, a job that is said to have changed the lives of many people.
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At the foot of Dai Hue mountain, most of the hamlets have people who make eel traps, but the most concentrated are in hamlets 7 and 8, with more than 30 households in hamlet 8 alone. People here have been involved in the eel trap business for decades. Every family that makes eel traps is very good at it. In the photo: Mr. Nguyen The Thanh's family in hamlet 8 is making eel traps. |
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The bait for releasing the traps is earthworms, crabs, and golden apple snails, of which earthworms are indispensable. All are chopped and mixed well. To have enough worms to use as bait for a long time, many households often catch worms and pack them into bags to store in the refrigerator. It is normal for households that release traps in Nam Anh to see refrigerators filled with hundreds of worms. |
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Around 1-2 pm, they start making bait. Things like worms, crabs, golden apple snails, etc. are all chopped and mixed well. For every 100 traps, about 0.5 kg of bait is needed. When ready, the trappers will divide the bait into tubes. Professional trappers usually put bait into the tubes at the same time before closing the traps. |
| Eel fishing clip |
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Every day, around 3-4pm, the workers in the hamlets start carrying the eels to the fields. Usually, they "move together" to go in groups of 3-5 people, after arriving at the location, they disperse to the fields. The locations for releasing the eels are getting wider and wider, in addition to Nam Dan, Nam Anh eel farmers are present in many districts in the province such as Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, Anh Son, Hung Nguyen... even to Huong Son, Huong Khe - Ha Tinh. The places chosen by the eel farmers to "bombard" are ponds, swamps, ditches, rice fields... Where the water stagnates all year round, there are many big eels. The eel farmers call the eel-catching profession "wading through the fields to the dense fields" regardless of dirty trash and deep water. |
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| Mr. Ho Viet Chien in hamlet 8, Nam Anh commune - a veteran in the profession shared: Going to release traps, there are many sad and happy stories, sometimes laughing to tears. In addition to broken vehicles, dangerous snakes, rain, flooded traps that kill eels, there are also threats and assaults from local "gangsters". Many people have had all their eels dumped, all their traps taken, and even blackmailed... Mr. Vuong said that many times, people who released traps in his hometown, when going to collect traps, had to return empty-handed. |
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| Releasing the traps is generally quite simple, but to attract a lot of eels, you need to have techniques and secrets... According to those in the profession, when releasing the traps, you need to place the mouth of the trap close to the mud, the tail of the trap should be raised above the water surface, as long as the eels can easily enter and live in the trap, you need to be careful not to let the trap float or sink right after releasing it. |
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| Around 4-5am, the villagers wake up and call each other to go pick up the bamboo shoots. Picking bamboo shoots is the simplest job in the profession. Just follow the mud marks and withered leaves on the banks of the fields and ponds to find bamboo shoots to pick up. |
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| People who release eels often bring the whole eel basket home, and before selling them, they pour the eels into buckets or basins. Usually, the eels released into the basket are fresh, only on nights when the water is flooded due to storms will the eels die. |
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| Every night, a “caught eel” in Nam Anh usually earns about 5 kg of eel, depending on the season and weather. In the summer, the demand for eel dishes increases, so selling eel is quite easy. Caught eels do not have to bring eels to the market, but traders will come to pick them up at home. The current price of eel ranges from 130,000 to 250,000 VND/kg. Although it is hard work and muddy hands and feet, the job of catching eels has brought significant income to many households in Nam Anh. Some families have built houses from scratch and have been able to send their children to school thanks to the job of catching eels. |
