Rushing to hunt the strangest fish on the planet

Having gills, lungs, knowing how to dive, running on water, on land, even climbing trees, ugly shape, stunted but delicious meat, this fish has become a specialty in Thanh Hoa waters.

Every early morning, when the tide recedes, dozens of people along the coast of Da Loc commune, Hau Loc district (Thanh Hoa) come together to the alluvial plains close to the coast, in the jungle and parrots to hunt fish. .

Whistle fish, also known as mudskippers (or tree climbing fish), belong to the family of white gobies, which is considered one of the 6 strangest fish species on the planet when it has gills, lungs and moves quickly when running on the water. water, mud and can climb trees…

To catch this type of fish, people have to wade into the muddy fields, find small holes and then use their hands to hook the holes into the 30-40cm deep layer of mud to catch fish.

Local people describe: This fish has an ugly shape, the size is only about 13-15cm, the eyes stick out like a frog’s eyes, the body is “full of tattoos” with patterns on the body but it is a specialty. The meat is more delicious than other fish. It is used to braise pepper, stew with soy sauce or bake… The fish is so named because of its small shape like finger tips and whistles, so people call it whistle fish for ease. miss.

In the marshy beaches of Hau Loc coastal area, people can catch both the stilts, the body and fins are blue, the body has no scales…

Catching this type of fish is also very difficult, hard work. People have to hook their hands into the deep mud.

Every day, people pull together to catch fish from 8-10 am when the tide recedes and return at 14-16 pm when the water rises.

To catch a lot of fish, not only using his hands like others, Mr. Dang Van Quan (in Da Loc commune) also used forceps (traps) to catch whistle fish.

Wading in the mud, Mr. Quan looked for whistle fish burrows and then set up a bamboo trap at the mouth of the fish cave.

Grip traps are made of bamboo that use rubber bands to pull the small clip. When the fish comes out of the mouth of the cave, it will impact the bamboo body, at this time the rubber band will clamp to the body of the fish.

Using a fishing clamp trap is much less difficult than hooking each layer of mud to catch fish.

According to Mr. Quan, every day using traps can also catch 1.5-2kg of fish. With the selling price of about 180,000 VND/kg, he earns about 250,000-300,000 VND/day on average.

The hunting season for whistle fish starts from January of the lunar calendar to March, this is the time when the fish is the most fatty and delicious. Traders will go to shore to buy this specialty fish.

The traps are full of fish.

Rushing to hunt the strangest fish on the planet

Catching whistle fish helps people in coastal areas have a relatively high income.

Tran Nghi