Squid hunting

( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - Squid hunting is a long-standing occupation of fishermen in the coastal communes of Binh Thuan, Binh Hai, and Binh Chau (Binh Son district), providing many families with daily income.

"Squid chasing" is the name given to the unique squid-catching method of the local people. After casting their nets, the fishermen dive into the water to chase the squid from the reefs into the nets. Every day, around 5 a.m., many fishermen from Binh Thuan commune gather at Co Co Cape, in Tuyet Diem 1 village, to pull their boats out to sea and begin their squid-chasing profession. The boats are paddled a few hundred meters from the shore before stopping and casting their nets. To chase the squid into the nets, four people are needed, two people per boat. After casting the nets, one person from each boat jumps into the water to chase the squid, while the person on the boat uses a rope to beat the water's surface, forcing the squid into the nets. Then, the two boats circle around to collect the nets.

The catch of fisherman Ngo Van Hung, from Binh Thuan commune (Binh Son district), after 2 hours of chasing squid.

Mr. Ngo Van Hung, from Tuyet Diem 2 village, Binh Thuan commune, has over 30 years of experience in squid hunting. This year, despite being over 75 years old, Mr. Hung still goes squid hunting with other fishermen almost every day. Mr. Hung shared that squid hunting only takes a few hundred meters from the shore, and the time spent catching squid is only 2-4 hours, making it very convenient. Squid hunting doesn't require much expense for purchasing fishing gear. Mr. Tran Ngoc Trung, also from Tuyet Diem 2 village, also practices squid hunting. “We do this job year-round, except on days with rough seas. Squid hunting usually starts from 5-9 am. This profession doesn't require fuel and operates around the shore, so on days with a lot of squid, we hunt longer, and on days with fewer squid, we go home early. On average, each person earns 300,000-500,000 VND per day. Some days we strike it rich, earning millions of VND,” Mr. Trung said.

According to fishermen, squid are abundant during rough seas, especially from the eighth lunar month onwards. “Sometimes there are so many squid that we just need to scoop them up with a bucket. On some days, four people can catch 35-40 kg of squid. With a selling price of 350,000 VND/kg, each person can earn 3-4 million VND after just a few hours of work,” Mr. Hung said excitedly. After being removed from the nets, the squid are placed in plastic bags and seawater is poured in to keep them fresh. Because it's a “specialty” with limited catch, the caught squid is mainly sold to restaurants and eateries. Therefore, the price of caught squid is higher than other types of squid.

Text and photos: AN NHIEN

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Published at: 15:51, 17/07/2024

Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/kinh-te/bien-kinh-te-bien/202407/nghe-san-muc-duoi-78a4049/