Bustling linh fish season at the headwaters

There are countless linh fish in the upstream. Photo: THANH CHINH

Bustling boats and canoes carrying fish

On the weekend, we returned to the remote border area to see with our own eyes fishermen exploiting linh fish during the flood season. At noon, the border was harsh. Standing on the concrete bridge connecting the two banks of the Nhon Hoi River, we looked out at the border, which was currently flooded with white water. Originating from the Mekong River tributary bordering Cambodia, the Nhon Hoi River receives a very strong flow of water. From here, the water flows along the Chau Doc River branch, then passes through the Hau River downstream. Every day, large dugout canoes and tub boats slowly cut through the water, carrying linh fish from the border downstream to Chau Doc market to be weighed and delivered to traders.

This season, the boats of Cambodian fishermen roar loudly, parting the water noisily, carrying live linh fish to be weighed for traders along the riverbank of Nhon Hoi commune. Opposite Bac Dai market is the river wharf that is always bustling with buyers and sellers of linh fish. Quickly scooping up each large net of fish, Cambodian people laboriously carry live linh fish to the floating raft to be weighed and sold to the fish purchasing owner. This season, in the lower stream, linh fish have not appeared much. If we come to Nhon Hoi at noon, we will be surprised by the large amount of linh fish as it is now.

Recently, linh fish have grown with the water level, bigger than chopsticks. If in Nhon Hoi commune, live linh fish cost 20,000 - 30,000 VND/kg, in the markets in Long Xuyen and Binh Khanh wards, it is about 150,000 VND/kg. In recent years, during the flood season, people from neighboring Cambodia also use fishing gear (dôn) to "catch" linh fish in the fields. Therefore, the source of young linh fish flowing downstream has decreased sharply. The boats of neighboring Cambodia are equipped with oxygen aerators to blow young linh fish in the hold. As soon as the fish reached the shore, Ms. Vo Thi Suong (44 years old) communicated in Cambodian to buy linh fish.

Ms. Suong said that every day her warehouse buys 5-6 tons of linh fish. Right when the linh fish migrate, people place bets on the fish, Ms. Suong buys 8-9 tons of fish. "In the past 20 days, I have bought a lot of linh fish. Every day, there are more than 20 Cambodian people running boats to transport linh fish to sell fish busily," Ms. Suong confided and said that she has been in the linh fish business for more than 25 years. In this border area, aquatic resources are very abundant. Thanks to fish and shrimp, many households here make a living. Every year, her fish warehouse creates jobs for more than 20 people, earning an income of 200,000 - 300,000 VND/day.

Linh fish distributed in major markets

Currently, cleaned linh fish cost 80,000 VND/kg and is purchased by many retailers at rural markets. Ms. Suong said that in addition to being weighed for retailers in the province, the cleaned fish are packed in styrofoam boxes, chilled in ice, and then sent by truck to be distributed to major markets in Ho Chi Minh City. Thanks to that, she has a good income at the beginning of the flood season. Entering the 8th lunar month, linh fish grow bigger, she buys them, cuts off their heads, and weighs them for fish sauce making facilities. By September, many types of fish such as: Chot, Tren, Chach, Leo, and Cua are harvested by people, which is when Ms. Suong earns more income from selling these types of fish.

At noon, the fish farm of Mr. Tran Van Chuot (47 years old) receives fish from the border fields for resale from people. Every day, Mr. Chuot's fish farm buys over 5 tons of linh fish. From this source of fish, Mr. Chuot distributes it to small traders. In addition, Mr. Chuot hires people to clean the fish to sell everywhere. Every day, Mr. Chuot's fish farm attracts more than 10 people to do work such as scooping, weighing, and cleaning the fish. Mrs. Tran Thi La (62 years old) is busy carrying a bunch of linh fish, quickly squeezing the belly of each fish to prepare to deliver to the broker. Mrs. La expressed that thanks to the flood, every day she works for the farm owner and earns more than 200,000 VND, enough to take care of her family. And Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (46 years old) smiled shyly, at the beginning of the flood season she worked for the farm owner, earning a decent amount of money to take care of her 2 children's education.

At noon, standing watching people scooping fish, we were surprised to see people from many places coming here to buy young linh fish to release into the Nhon Hoi River. For a long time, people have had the habit of buying carp, perch, and snakehead fish on the full moon day to release them. But recently, knowing that people upstream sell live linh fish, people have come here to buy fish to release them. Ms. Suong said that since the beginning of the flood season, it is estimated that people have bought and released more than 10 tons of young linh fish. She sells fish for release at 15,000 - 20,000 VND/kg, and each time people buy and release hundreds of kilos into the river.

This season, going upstream to see linh fish is very eye-catching. The quantity of fish is so much that we cannot eat them all, so we have to make fish sauce or release them. It is strange that although the upstream area is not rich, the products of the flood season are very rich.

THANH CHINH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/ron-rang-mua-ca-linh-o-dau-nguon-a425906.html