QUANG NAM – Chan wades through the water, Hieu holds a racquet in his hand and a flashlight in his hand to catch crabs. In a small meal, he got a few children, about 200 a lot, selling for 6,000 VND/child.
After dinner, Tran Xuan Hieu, 20 years old, from Tam Tien commune, Nui Thanh district, went to the riverside of Truong Giang to catch crabs and sell them to the owner of the pond in the commune. His tools are a racket with a handle made from a plastic pipe, a flashlight, and a plastic bucket. Arriving at the bank of the Truong Giang River, about 100 meters from his house, he got on a basket boat to row across the river.
The boat docked, Hieu anchored and turned on the flashlight. Wading along the sandy riverbank, ankle-deep, thigh-deep, Hieu looked for crabs with a lamp. During the day, crabs live in burrows, at night they come out to find food. Hearing noises, seeing lights, they will crawl into burrows or out into deep water to hide. Therefore, Hieu had to go very gently.
After five minutes of searching, Hieu discovered the crab lying under the tree. Seeing the light, it ran away and buried itself in the sand, revealing only two eyes. Hieu used his foot to hit the crab so that it ran into the racket, then picked it up and put it in a plastic bucket. He put some grass in the bucket, making a place for the crabs to hide, preventing them from biting each other and breaking their claws.
While walking along the river bank to look at the lights, while straining his eyes to observe, Hieu said that the baby crab was only the size of his thumb, and the color was like a layer of mud and sand, so it was not easy to see. Many children go to the open ground to eat, but many also lie in the sand.
Finished work at 21:30, sweat soaked his shirt, white feet sick, in exchange Hieu caught 32 crabs. Bringing the crabs home, he transferred them to a large plastic container to keep them for sale the next morning to the owner of the pond in the commune. There are 31 small ones, selling price is 6,000 VND/head; a large one about 2 taels, selling crab meat for 35,000 VND/tang.
Knowing how to hunt crabs from a young age, Hieu said that this job does not require money, just 100,000 VND to buy a flashlight, but needs health and bright eyes because he has to walk long distances, observe continuously for a few hours with bright light. weak light. Not to mention on the way, sometimes hitting deep holes, slippery objects, falling wet. “Once I fell down, rushed to store crabs, they all ran out,” Hieu said.
About 2 km from Mr. Hieu’s place, the Tam Ky river flows through Diem Dien village, Tam Tien commune, the water is dry, so many people use lights to catch crabs at night. From 19:00 to 22:00, Mr. Tran Van Ba, 42 years old, caught more than 50 fish, the size is as small as a fingertip, the big one is nearly two ounces. “Tonight we caught less than previous days because the strong wind created waves. The river had many boats and boats raking mussels, so the water was murky and we couldn’t see the crabs,” he said.
Every month, the water dries up at night for about 15 days, people like Hieu or Mr. Ba go to catch crabs. The job does not give a stable income because some nights have a few children, some nights more than 200.
Mr. Nguyen Van Trung, the owner of a pond in Tam Tien commune, said that now artificially seeded crabs are sold a lot, each costing only 3,000-4,000 VND, but the lake owner still prefers to buy crabs caught by people because they are bred. Naturally, released into ponds quickly like to burn with the environment. Natural crabs have good health, less disease, fast growth, after four months of farming, they can be sold. Meanwhile, seed crabs from other places are slow to adapt to the environment, or get sick or die.
200 a lot, selling for 6,000 VND/child.
After dinner, Tran Xuan Hieu, 20 years old, from Tam Tien commune, Nui Thanh district, went to the riverside of Truong Giang to catch crabs and sell them to the owner of the pond in the commune. His tools are a racket with a handle made from a plastic pipe, a flashlight, and a plastic bucket. Arriving at the bank of the Truong Giang River, about 100 meters from his house, he got on a basket boat to row across the river.
The boat docked, Hieu anchored and turned on the flashlight. Wading along the sandy riverbank, ankle-deep, thigh-deep, Hieu looked for crabs with a lamp. During the day, crabs live in burrows, at night they come out to find food. Hearing noises, seeing lights, they will crawl into burrows or out into deep water to hide. Therefore, Hieu had to go very gently.
After five minutes of searching, Hieu discovered the crab lying under the tree. Seeing the light, it ran away and buried itself in the sand, revealing only two eyes. Hieu used his foot to hit the crab so that it ran into the racket, then picked it up and put it in a plastic bucket. He put some grass in the bucket, making a place for the crabs to hide, preventing them from biting each other and breaking their claws.
While walking along the river bank to look at the lights, while straining his eyes to observe, Hieu said that the baby crab was only the size of his thumb, and the color was like a layer of mud and sand, so it was not easy to see. Many children go to the open ground to eat, but many also lie in the sand.
Finished work at 21:30, sweat soaked his shirt, white feet sick, in exchange Hieu caught 32 crabs. Bringing the crabs home, he transferred them to a large plastic container to keep them for sale the next morning to the owner of the pond in the commune. There are 31 small ones, selling price is 6,000 VND/head; a large one about 2 taels, selling crab meat for 35,000 VND/tang.
Knowing how to hunt crabs from a young age, Hieu said that this job does not require money, just 100,000 VND to buy a flashlight, but needs health and bright eyes because he has to walk long distances, observe continuously for a few hours with bright light. weak light. Not to mention on the way, sometimes hitting deep holes, slippery objects, falling wet. “Once I fell down, rushed to store crabs, they all ran out,” Hieu said.
About 2 km from Mr. Hieu’s place, the Tam Ky river flows through Diem Dien village, Tam Tien commune, the water is dry, so many people use lights to catch crabs at night. From 19:00 to 22:00, Mr. Tran Van Ba, 42 years old, caught more than 50 fish, the size is as small as a fingertip, the big one is nearly two ounces. “Tonight we caught less than previous days because the strong wind created waves. The river had many boats and boats raking mussels, so the water was murky and we couldn’t see the crabs,” he said.
Every month, the water dries up at night for about 15 days, people like Hieu or Mr. Ba go to catch crabs. The job does not give a stable income because some nights have a few children, some nights more than 200.
Mr. Nguyen Van Trung, the owner of a pond in Tam Tien commune, said that now artificially seeded crabs are sold a lot, each costing only 3,000-4,000 VND, but the lake owner still prefers to buy crabs caught by people because they are bred. Naturally, released into ponds quickly like to burn with the environment. Natural crabs have good health, less disease, fast growth, after four months of farming, they can be sold. Meanwhile, seed crabs from other places are slow to adapt to the environment, or get sick or die.