Abundant fish and shrimp in flood season
In the seventh lunar month, when farmers had just finished harvesting the summer-autumn rice crop, heavy rains began. Floodwaters from the upper reaches of the Kien Giang and Dai Giang rivers poured in, creating a vast flood season on Hac Hai lagoon.
According to the elders, during the flood season, aquatic and seafood species from the lagoon follow the canals and streams upstream. Understanding this habit, people are busy entering the "harvesting" season of fish, shrimp and crabs.
In the memory of Mr. Nguyen Cong Tinh (87 years old), in Xuan Bac 2 village - Hoa Thuy (Le Ninh commune), the flood season on Hac Hai lagoon always brought joy to his family and people around the area. During the subsidy period, Mr. Tinh was the captain of the shrimp fishing team of Xuan Bac Cooperative.
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| Pha Hac Hai Eco-tourism Area - Photo: PP |
More than 30 years since he stopped working, Mr. Tinh still remembers clearly the abundant shrimp and fish seasons of the past. At that time, Hac Hai lagoon had countless products. Underwater, countless species of shrimp, crab, fish, and crabs... In the sky, countless herons, herons, wild ducks, and teals... After just one night of fishing, the members brought home tons of fish and shrimp. Life at that time was still difficult, and daily meals had to be supplemented with cassava, but thanks to the abundant products from the lagoon, many generations of people were raised.
According to Mr. Tinh, in the past, to catch fish in Hac Hai lagoon, people mainly used handmade fishing tools made from bamboo, of which nets were the most popular. During the flood season, people around Hac Hai lagoon made hundreds, thousands of nets along the banks and canals along the dikes and rice fields to catch fish and shrimp upstream.
The trap includes a trap and a lantern (also called a flute), built in a V-shaped diagram in the opposite direction of the water flow, forming a "battle formation" for schools of fish, shrimp, and crabs to follow. Once in the trap, fish and shrimp cannot escape but are not harmed. Because the products are caught this way, they are always fresh and can be sold at a high price.
Old profession is fading away
This year, the flood season has returned, we wandered to the villages specializing in catching aquatic and seafood products along the Hac Hai lagoon, but the profession of "catching" fish and shrimp with traps is no longer there. Instead, people mainly use traps, nets, and modern tools.
After decades of working in the profession of "dom" no, up to now, the family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Toan (70 years old) in An Dinh-Hong Thuy village (Cam Hong commune) has switched to the profession of releasing traps. Mrs. Toan said that at the peak, her family had up to 50 traps. Every night of "dom" no, her family collects dozens of kilograms of aquatic and seafood products, especially freshwater shrimp, a specialty of Hac Hai lagoon, earning millions of dong is a common thing. Mrs. Toan's family thanks to that, they can raise their children to study and grow up.
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| Carp caught in flood season on Hac Hai lagoon - Photo: PP |
However, in recent years, aquatic and seafood resources have gradually depleted, and large fields around Hac Hai lagoon have been "bid" by the people. The "fishing" profession is no longer suitable. Some people have switched to net and trap fishing, while the rest have completely abandoned fishing to do other jobs.
Along the villages along Hac Hai lagoon, a few people still practice the profession of "catching" fish upstream, but the old fishing nets are now made of nets instead of bamboo.
Farmer Nguyen Cong Ly in Xuan Bac 2 village - Hoa Thuy (Le Ninh commune) said that his family bid for rice fields, taking advantage of the opportunity to set up two more net traps around the fields to catch fish and shrimp, earning extra income. During the flood season, each night, Mr. Ly earns a few kilograms of fish and shrimp, selling them for 500,000 - 700,000 VND. But there are also days when there is no fish or shrimp, and the trips to the traps are not enough for the family to have three meals a day.
Hac Hai lagoon (formerly known as Be Can, Binh Ho) is a lagoon area of more than 12 square kilometers located between the two districts of Le Thuy and Quang Ninh (old), now belonging to the communes of Ninh Chau, Truong Ninh, Cam Hong, Le Thuy and Le Ninh (Quang Tri). This is a brackish water area, considered a very abundant source of aquatic and seafood products, providing livelihoods for people in the region. In particular, when the My Trung saltwater barrier dam was built, it created a large rice granary of thousands of hectares, meeting the local food needs for a long period.
In the middle of the Voi area of Hac Hai lagoon, in recent years, Mr. Nguyen Cong Xuan and his wife Do Thi Hoa have built the "Hac Hai Ecotourism Area". Originally a farmer with more than 30 years of experience in this lagoon, their ecotourism area "attracts visitors" not because of its magnificent facilities but because of its wildness and delicious fresh fish and shrimp specialties from this lagoon.
Coming here, visitors can also relive old memories through the traditional farming and fishing tools of farmers living around Hac Hai lagoon. Only here, we saw the image of a bamboo trap again and heard Mr. Xuan tell in detail about the technique of building a trap to "catch" fish and shrimp upstream during the flood season - a memory that now only exists in nostalgia...
Phan Phuong
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/xa-hoi/202509/ky-uc-mua-dom-ca-nguoc-nuoc-tren-pha-hac-hai-2065bc3/
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