The “hell” fish market in An Giang meets briefly for a few hours at night. This is a large and exciting copper fish market in the border area when converging many types of seafood typical of the floating season.
On the banks of the Vinh Te canal at the foot of Tha La bridge (Vinh Te commune, Chau Doc city, An Giang province) there is a special market, known locally as “the hell” or “ghost” fish market. for meeting only at night. The market usually takes place quickly for a few hours before dawn.
According to the seniors, the “hell” fish market was established about 20 years ago, founded by people living along the canals who live by fishing in the countryside.
From the middle of the night, local people went to visit the market, the chicken was ordered the previous afternoon, then brought back to sell on the spot to customers (small traders). Thanks to this market, the poor people who live by fishing do not have to work hard to carry fish far away to sell as before.
Before the Covid-19 epidemic, from 3 am, the market was bustling with sellers and buyers, but nearly this year the “hell” fish market delayed the meeting time to 4 o’clock.
Down the river, when the fishermen came in boats carrying fish, the small merchants on the shore hurriedly went down, busy choosing, weighing, counting money… It was a series of activities familiar to buyers and sellers in the market. throughout the years.
Mr. Tam – a fisherman said: “Here, all wholesalers are familiar with each other, everyone has their own driver. Although operating at night, there has never been a situation of winning customers or arguing.”
It is known that the “ghost” fish market operates all year round. In the past 20 years, only during the epidemic period did the market close. Fish is different in every season, but the busiest time is still the floating season. The flood brought back rich fish and shrimp products, and border people took advantage of placing their nets to catch fish in the field.
Ms. Phan Thi Tuyet (51 years old, living in Vinh Te commune, Chau Doc city) said that in the past, fish and shrimp were huge, she caught dozens of kilograms every day, now it’s less, about 10kg. Compared to the previous day, fish is also less abundant, mainly catching spirit fish, bait fish (trash fish as food for fish raised in ponds), scads, eels, field crabs…
“Although the fish this year is less than last year, it also helps poor people like us get dong out and dong in because there is no job in my hometown to do in the flood season. Normally I earn about 200,000 – 300,000 VND (12$), but the water month is low. sometimes earn millions of dong,” Mrs. Tuyet said happily.
Because of the variety and freshness of Western products here, the “ghost” fish market always attracts many customers both far and near. Ms. Huynh Thi Thu Thao said that in order to buy fresh and delicious cod fish, customers like her have to stay up early to wait for the boat to bring the fish back.
“Coarfish here are quite cheap to buy, ranging from 20,000 to more than 100,000 VND / kg, such as young reishi at about 80,000 – 90,000 VND / kg. After buying here, I enlisted to bring fish and shrimp to Chau Doc market to sell. , get a higher price,” Thao said.
After nearly two hours of active activity, the market gradually dissipated. Laughter and talking also faded away. When the rooster crows in the morning, it is also the time when the “hell” fish market gradually thins out, and the wings of customers carry copper fish to the market. Some other small traders come to set up vegetable and meat stalls on the roadside, what the locals call the “crouching” market group.
Under the canal, the fishermen returned to their canoe to start the engine and leave, after a night of fishing in the wind and dew.
