At the beginning of the new year, fishermen in coastal communes of Sam Son City, Nghi Son town, and the districts of Quang Xuong and Hoang Hoa are busy going out to sea to catch scad fish. Each trip back to shore brings in tens of millions of dong for the fishermen.

The family of Mr. Vu Van Tuan (a fisherman in Sam Son City) makes their living from fishing. Every year, early on the second day of Tet (Lunar New Year), Mr. Tuan and his son go out to sea on their raft to catch fish.

“I went out to sea at 4 am and returned to shore around 10 am the same day. On our first fishing trip of the new year, my son and I caught over 10 kilograms of sweet potato fish, in addition to other types of fish, shrimp, crabs, etc. When the boat came ashore, people vied to buy the sweet potato fish at 1 million dong per kilogram. Just from selling the sweet potato fish, my son and I earned tens of millions of dong,” Mr. Tuan happily recounted.

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Fishermen prepare their nets and gear for the next fishing trip. Photo: Le Duong
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After the Lunar New Year, many people are looking to buy sweet potato fish. Photo: Le Duong

According to Mr. Tuan, the peak price of scad fish, reaching 1 million VND/kg, occurred between the 2nd and 4th day of Tet (Lunar New Year). Currently, the price fluctuates between 400,000 and 600,000 VND/kg depending on the size. At this price, fishermen can earn tens of millions of VND per raft upon returning from sea.

Fisherman Vu Nhu Ca (Sam Son City) shared that no one can predict the outcome of fishing; some boats have a successful catch, while others yield nothing. For example, on the second day of Tet (Lunar New Year), his boat only caught a little over 1kg of scad fish, selling for just over 1 million VND. However, on the third and fourth days of Tet, they struck it rich, earning between 7 and 10 million VND each day.

"Every time I go out to sea, my regular traders call, saying they want to buy all the scad fish I catch," Mr. Ca recounted.

Mr. Ca said that more than 10 years ago, fishermen would either throw away or bring them back to cook for pigs because no one ate them and they had no economic value.

In recent years, this type of fish has become popular again among people. They buy it to cook in soups or hot pots because it has a sweet, refreshing taste and is believed to promote bowel regularity.

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The price of scad fish has fluctuated between 500,000 and 1 million VND/kg in recent days, depending on the time of year. Photo: Le Duong

According to locals, the beginning of the new year is a time when fishermen love to go out to sea because the prices of all kinds of seafood double or triple compared to normal days.

A visitor from Thanh Hoa City who went to Sam Son to buy seafood said that after Tet, many families are tired of meat dishes and sticky rice cakes. At this time, fresh seafood is scarce, so at the beginning of the year, when fishermen start going out to sea, they flock to the coastal areas to hunt for and buy it.

"From the third day of Tet until now, I've driven down to Sam Son beach every day, sometimes buying sweet potato fish, sometimes shrimp and crab... even though the prices are much higher than usual. And I still have to go early to get the best ones. Among all the seafood, sweet potato fish is still in high demand, so supply can't meet supply," this customer said.