The unique squid trapping technique of coastal fishermen.

Using only bamboo traps, fishermen venture a few nautical miles out to sea early in the morning to set their traps for squid, harvesting them at the end of the day. This simple fishing method is providing a stable income for many fishermen in the coastal areas.

The reward after a trapping trip is a catch of fresh squid - Photo: LA

At My Thuy beach, Hai An commune, Hai Lang district, around 2-3 pm every day, one can easily spot dozens of 10-24 HP motorboats of fishermen starting their engines and heading out to sea to collect squid from traps that have been placed on the seabed since early morning.

Sharing his joy after returning to shore with nearly 10 kg of fresh squid, fisherman Phan Thanh Hiep happily said that the squid trapping method has been around for more than 20 years.

The fishing season usually runs from February to July each year. The traps are set 1-4 nautical miles from the shore, in water depths of 5-10 meters, with a maximum depth of about 20 meters.

Each squid trapping boat usually has two people on board, and the number of traps typically ranges from 20 to 60. For example, his boat, with its 24 HP engine, can carry 50 traps per trip.

To catch squid, Mr. Hiep usually sets sail early in the morning. After about 30 minutes of travel, his boat arrives at a predetermined location, about 2-3 nautical miles from the shore.

With over 15 years of experience at sea, he can tell where squid are concentrated just by looking at the water, currents, and weather. Upon arriving, he and his crew prepare the traps, while others attach clusters of fresh squid eggs to the traps as bait.

Then, as he moved the boat, he lowered each trap cage into the sea. He placed them more densely in areas where he suspected there were more squid.

To secure it, the bottom of the trap cage is tied to a stone or sandbag weighing about 5-7 kg to keep it submerged in the sea. The top of the cage is attached to a rope 20-30 meters long, which is then tied to a floating buoy on the water's surface. The cage is lowered into the sea for about 30-40 minutes.

“The practice of using cage traps to catch squid is currently quite effective among fishermen in coastal communes, especially those in Hai Lang district. It's easy to do and provides a stable income, so except for rainy and windy days, fishermen regularly set out squid traps. The amount of squid caught each day varies depending on the number of traps and their location. On average, with about 50 traps, each boat can catch 3-7 kg of squid. Some boats that hit a large school of squid can harvest 15-20 kg. At the current price of around 350,000 VND/kg, fishermen earn 1.5-2.5 million VND per day, and after deducting expenses, they earn 700,000-1.2 million VND per person. In addition, some large fishing vessels also engage in this practice, such as the QT 93679TS vessel captained by Mr. Nguyen Khanh Quoc, which regularly fishes in the Bach Long Vy fishing grounds, earning hundreds of millions of VND per day.” trip.

Mr. Le Duc Thang, Deputy Head of the Fisheries Exploitation Management and Logistics Services Department, Fisheries Sub-Department.

To avoid confusion with other people's traps, each person marks their own unique symbol on a buoy. Then, he turns his boat back to shore to rest, waiting until around 2-3 pm before returning to collect the traps. When he reaches the location of each buoy, he uses a long pole, about 2 meters long with a hook at the end, to pull the rope attached to the buoy up.

According to Mr. Hiep, not every trap catches squid; sometimes he pulls up 4 or 5 traps continuously without catching a single squid, but other times he pulls them up and finds not only cuttlefish but also squid weighing almost a kilogram inside.

“This job is very unpredictable; some days we earn a few million dong, but other days we lose even the money for fuel. But it balances out and provides a stable income. This fishing trip was a success for me. With the purchase price at shore from traders at 350,000 dong/kg, after deducting expenses, we each earned about 1.7 million dong,” Mr. Hiep said.

Not far away, Mr. Phan Thanh To was meticulously repairing his squid trap cage in preparation for tomorrow's squid fishing trip. At 70 years old, Mr. To has over 20 years of experience in the squid trapping trade.

The trap cage is made of a rectangular bamboo frame measuring 1.2 m in length, 0.6 m in width, and 0.6 m in height, covered with a nylon mesh with a mesh size of approximately 2 cm. The trap's opening consists of two pieces of mesh that close together, allowing the squid to enter but preventing them from escaping.

The cages are surrounded by dried leaves or black nylon tarpaulin to create a dark area inside. To carry many cages on the boat, instead of being fixed in place, the corners of the cages are connected with soft plastic, allowing them to be folded compactly during transport to the fishing grounds. Thanks to this, small boats can carry 15-20 cages, while larger boats can carry up to 40-60 cages.

The unique squid trapping technique of coastal fishermen.

Mr. Phan Thanh Tô, from Mỹ Thủy village, Hải An commune, Hải Lăng district, repairs his damaged squid trap in preparation for a new fishing trip - Photo: LA

According to Mr. To, although the structure of a squid trap is simple, every step must be followed precisely when it is lowered into the sea: from erecting the trap, tying the ropes, attaching the stones, and attaching the bait.

The unique aspect of squid trapping is that, unlike trapping other animals using food or setting traps along their path, fishermen must lure them into laying eggs inside traps. Therefore, the most attractive bait for squid in the traps is a cluster of fresh squid eggs.

Mr. To explained that squid usually lay their eggs in coral crevices, so when they see the cage on the seabed, they mistake it for a coral crevice and enter to lay their eggs. Therefore, the squid eggs used for trapping must be fresh; the female squid will smell it and enter to lay their eggs, and the male squid will follow.

To keep squid eggs fresh for several days, immediately after pulling up the traps, fishermen must remove the eggs and put them in buckets of clean seawater.

"This is the time when squid come close to shore to breed, so as soon as they see eggs in the traps, they crawl in to lay their eggs and can't get out. We just pull them up and catch them," Mr. To said.

According to Mr. To, compared to other fishing methods, squid trapping is relatively easy because it doesn't cost much but yields a relatively high income.

On average, the cost of making a squid trap is only about 20,000 - 30,000 VND; the fuel cost for the engine to travel to the fishing grounds is also only about 70,000 - 100,000 VND. The work of those who make squid traps is also only during the day, not through the night like many other fishing professions.

Every day, the fishermen go out to sea twice, at 5 a.m. to set their traps and at 2 p.m. to collect them. If they catch squid, they bring them back to sell to traders, and the traps are gathered and stacked on the boat. Any that are dirty or damaged are cleaned and repaired, then taken back out to sea the next day to catch more squid.

"On a slow day, I can still catch 2-3 kg of squid, on a good day I can get 7-8 kg, and sometimes I can even catch over 20 kg. In general, it's enough to support my family," Mr. To said.

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