Under the canopy of Ca Mau mangrove forests, there exist many products of high economic value such as clams, snails, mussels, and crabs. Crabs are considered a gift from heaven and a specialty of the southernmost region of the country.
Previously, people had to hunt this crustacean at night, using flashlights to quickly catch it when they saw the crabs coming out to eat. But in the past few years, people in Ca Mau have had a very interesting way of hunting crabs, which is to use mouse traps placed at the cave entrance to catch crabs. This is a new, creative method but also very effective.
The mouse trap is placed on the mouth of the crab cave.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoan, Quach Pham commune, Dam Doi district, an experienced farmer in hunting crabs using mouse traps, said that to improve his family's life, every night he often sneaks along the rivers to look for crabs. On days when the water rises and it gets dark, the crabs will leave their burrows and climb up the tree canopy to find "mates". This is the right time to catch a lot of crabs.
Crabs are usually available all year round. To catch quality crabs with firm meat and lots of roe, you should go fishing at night. When the moon is bright, the crab meat is not yet at a certain delicious level, so few people go fishing. Crabs like to eat fish, small shrimps... so I use mouse traps to hook some miscellaneous fish to trap them. Mouse traps are placed close to the edge and in the bushes or on the roots of mangrove trees, so every morning when I visit, almost every trap is full of crabs. Catching crabs with mouse traps helps me and my colleagues to be less tired and dangerous because we don't have to sneak through the bushes at night. Thanks to setting crabs, I have an extra income of 100,000 - 200,000 VND/day", Mr. Ngoan boasted.
Rat traps used to catch crabs are a new initiative of people in the mangrove forests of Ca Mau.
The profession of catching three-sided crabs of the people in the mangrove forests of Ca Mau has existed for a long time but it is very hard because they have to go everywhere on the edge of the forest. For the farmers near the forest who do not have a stable job, catching three-sided crabs is considered a "money-making" profession that helps them cover their daily life.
Mr. Tran Van Linh, a forest worker, living in Ngoc Hien district, often goes into the forest to set traps to catch crabs. He shared that setting traps for crabs is quite simple and does not require bait, just a mouse trap and necessities such as rice, food and water to be able to go into the forest all day. And the bait to lure crabs into the trap is just to put mangrove leaves or fish sauce in the trap and then find a cave to set it up to catch crabs.
"Forester" Tran Van Linh weaves through the canals along the forest to find crab holes.
“There are crab holes everywhere under the forest canopy. I just need to find the cave entrance to set the trap. When the crabs leave the cave, they see the leaves hanging in the trap and crawl in, getting caught in the trap. Usually, after setting the trap, I only need to rest for about 30 minutes before I can go check the trap. I have about a hundred traps, and if I catch a good catch, I catch 5-7 kg, if I lose, I get 3-4 kg. Although the income from this job is not high, it is enough to cover my family's living expenses. Hunting crabs in the forest is hard, but I can make a living. I don't depend on anyone, and when I get tired, I can rest for a few days,” said Mr. Linh.
Currently, the crabs are purchased by warehouses at a fairly high price of about 70,000 VND/kg. With this price, on average, every day, forest workers like Mr. Linh pocket more than 200,000 VND/person. This is a dream income for many people in the countryside today. The crabs are processed into many dishes such as boiled, fried with tamarind and most notably the salted crab dish - a famous specialty dish of Rach Goc land in Ngoc Hien district, Ca Mau province.
Three-sided crabs live in many alluvial areas, shrimp ponds along the mangrove forests in Ca Mau. They are concentrated in districts such as Nam Can, Ngoc Hien, Dam Doi... of Ca Mau province.
A leader of Tan An commune, Ngoc Hien district said: “There are many people in the locality who make a living by catching crabs. In the past, crabs were not valuable, but now they have become a specialty, a dish for the rich, so they are very popular. Many people from other places come to the locality to rent fishing boats mainly to catch crabs. It can be said that crabs are a product that nature has bestowed on the mangrove alluvial plains. The locality has called on people to have a plan to preserve and regenerate to promote the economic value of crabs, such as not catching small crabs that are not yet big enough or crabs with eggs about to spawn. Only then will the crab resource survive.”
Although it is a job done during the off-season, people can sell each kilogram of crab caught for 50-70 thousand VND/kg depending on the time, helping to increase their income. It is still the familiar crab, but through the way of catching and luring the crab, we can see the creativity and flexibility of the simple and friendly people of Ca Mau.
Source: https://danviet.vn/cha-ai-ngo-chi-dung-rap-chuot-tho-san-ca-mau-bat-chuc-kilogam-ba-khia-trong-vai-gio-dong-ho-de-nhu-bon-20240629230528637.htm
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