Tien River anchovy season

In the morning of May, upstream of the Tien River came dark clouds. The river surface rippled and rippled, nearly a dozen boats split up to drop nets about 300 m apart. Mr. Di hugged the net roll down to the shell (similar to a boat made of composite), carried a thermos of sugar tea, started the engine and ran towards Hong Ngu ferry. More than 500m from the ferry pier, he turned off the engine, swam to the middle of the river and began to let go of his net.

Mr. Go fixed the end of the net on a buoy with a signal flag so that boats could see it when passing. Following the flow of the water, it took about 15 minutes to release the net, so he turned the canoe to the shore and waited for another three hours to collect the net. “Depending on the water, the fish will stick more or less. Usually when the water is low (dry) half to the big water, it will stick a lot,” said a man from Hong Ngu village.

The net was pulled up, the anchovies were as big as the tip of the chopsticks, iridescent white, caught in quite a lot. After collecting, he quickly controlled the machine to go home. Two people were at home waiting, he immediately pulled the net on the tree trunk, one person spread the net, the other two used a stick to hit the net to make the fish fly. With this method, it only takes them about 30 minutes to remove the small fish, marinate them in ice to keep them fresh.

The price of anchovies fluctuates from 25 to 30 thousand per kilogram, traders come to their homes to buy. On a day when he dropped his net twice, Mr. Di earned 600-800 thousand VND. One day, when he won more than 50 kg, the fisherman’s family earned more than a million. “Anchovy nets have more money than other fish, they only work very hard when shaking the fish, it takes three people to do it quickly,” said Mr. Di.

Also the Tien River section below the ferry, near Long Khanh dune, the day’s fishing must be in order. Mr. Nguyen Van Thai anchored the boat at the alluvial ground along the river – where more than 30 fishermen gather, waiting for his turn. The reason there is a division of “talent” when catching because everyone in the group pooled money to salvage trees in the river, releasing less torn nets, so the catch must come first. “Whoever comes first drops the net first, those who come last have to wait in order, no mess,” said the U60-year-old fisherman.

This morning Mr. Thai woke up early to wait for “talent”, so he left at 5am when the sun had not yet appeared. In addition to the float made of plastic bottles, the net boat owner attaches additional lights to make it easier for vehicles to observe. After about an hour of releasing the net, Mr. Thai collected the net, but the fish was quite small, about two kilograms. “Your uncle’s job, it’s normal to win and lose on days,” he said, winding up the net neatly, taking advantage of the opportunity to fertilize a field of more than a hectare.

Every day, he goes to the river to catch fish once or twice, earning nearly 10 million VND a month. The source of income helps him to manage 5 mouths to eat in the house, if he saves, he will have more money to buy fertilizer to spread the rice. On average, each person who enters the profession costs nearly 20 million VND including motorboats, 200-300 m net.

According to fishermen who cast fishing nets on large rivers such as the Tien River, it is easy to get caught by tree stumps, palm branches, flowing along the river. In addition, water hyacinth and garbage are also easily pulled into the nets of fishermen, which take a long time to remove. On a day of bad luck, the boat or boat caught the net, they had to take a break of 5-7 days to sew another net.

The anchovy season usually starts in September of the previous year’s lunar calendar and lasts until May or June depending on how early or late the “turning water” (flood water from the upper Mekong flows in). Anchovies are considered a specialty of the West, as large as chopsticks, concentrated in the headwaters of the Tien River. Small fish go bad quickly, catchers must quickly freeze or cut off the intestines to preserve them for a long time. Fish is usually braised, boiled or dried.

Along the embankment of Hong Ngu district or Tan Chau town (An Giang) to buy fish, to the river, traders are often busy trading. The fish sold on the spot is quite fresh, but the market is fast, only a few hours in the morning or afternoon.

Tien River anchovy season

Ngoc Tai