Mantis shrimp season in Nha Phu lagoon

Mantis shrimp season in Nha Phu lagoon

At 4 o’clock every day, Mr. Ty (41 years old, Ngoc Diem village, Ninh Ich commune, Ninh Hoa town) brings a flashlight with his friends to put the net on a small motorboat, start the engine towards Nha Phu lagoon, 10 km away.

Arriving at a familiar fishing spot after nearly an hour of crossing the waves, he slowed down so that his companions could drop their gill nets with a width of 2.2 m, to the bottom of the water about 6 m deep. When the first rays of sunlight hit the sky, the net work was completed, Mr. Ty anchored the boat to rest.

At the age of 20, Mr. Ty went to the sea in front of his house to help his father drop nets, remove shrimp and also learn a trade. A few years later, when he got married, he bought a boat and skillfully followed his father’s business with his wife.

Near the edge of the land of Ngoc Diem village is a deep concave bay, shielded by three islands: Ca mountain, Lan island and Be mountain in the sea. People here use small boats, rowing to spread nets near the shore and also collect a lot of mantis shrimp, fish, and squid.

The fishing village is getting more and more crowded, the sea is running out of fish and shrimp, so their livelihood becomes more difficult. Fishermen install motorboats, go to the sea farther away. “Now, the marine profession does not have to be released, then pull up the net to eat. It depends on the weather and the water, so the income is unlimited,” he said.

According to Mr. Ty’s experience, on a windy day, many shrimp will be caught in the net. While the days are quiet, “only a few ounces of fish can be picked up, enough for the whole family to eat sparingly”. And today, Mr. Ty was happy when he caught 2.5 kg of mantis shrimp. Subtracting expenses, the trip is 600,000 VND, he divides you in half.

Nha Phu lagoon is nearly 1,500 hectares wide, about 15 km north of Nha Trang city, is considered one of the two large lagoons in Khanh Hoa province with an ecological system of mountains, rivers, lakes, sea and islands. This place lasts from March to November every year.

In Ngoc Diem village, there are a few dozen boats engaged in catching mantis shrimp. Returning to shore after an 8-hour trip, Mr. Nguyen Van Quan, 32 years old, collected 1.5 kg of shrimp. He said, every day, on average, he earns more than two kilograms of shrimp and a few silver shrimp, crabs… Except for the cost of engine oil and food, each trip he earns 400,000 VND, enough to live through the day.

Fishermen who have been working for 10 years have expressed concern that in recent years there has been less and less fish and shrimp in the lagoon due to the extermination of fishing boats. “It’s sweeping like that, in a few years, we’ll probably retire because we don’t have anything left to catch,” Quan said and pointed to the boats that started up.

According to him, when fishing, fishing boats use thick, multi-layer and lead nets to catch seafood from the bottom to the surface of the water. Small to large fish, including mantis shrimp, did not escape.

After catching, traders buy mantis shrimp at the coast with prices ranging from 130-250 thousand VND per kg, depending on the size. Large shrimp, they leave termites for restaurants and seafood stalls in Nha Trang City, small shrimp are sold to the market.

“On weekdays, there are still large and small shrimp for retail, but in the tourist season, how many agents collect them all because the consumption demand of tourists increases,” said Nguyen Thi Giang, 38 years old, who specializes in buying seafood. .

Mantis shrimp or mantis shrimp, on the surface… is a nutritious seafood, often used to cook many delicious dishes such as burnt garlic, roasted with salt, roasted with tamarind, steamed with lemongrass…

Bui Toan