Drying fish in a fishing village

When the boat came ashore, far from the motorbikes buying fish, carrying fish was busy. These days, coastal fishermen begin to exploit pit fish. This is a high-value seafood species that is exported to many countries.

Remove the pit fish from the net. On summer days, the sky is calm and the sea is calm. Although the journeys of the fishermen in my hometown are difficult, when they return to the shore, they are always full of laughter. On the ships docked, there are not only dried squid – an expensive export seafood – but also dried sea bass – a fragrant, delicious fish that is now very popular. Throughout the fishing ports and beaches in the communes of Binh Son district (Quang Ngai), hundreds of fishermen are very excited about the beginning of the fish season, while the price of this commodity is increasing. The people of the sea are happy because of the fish season. When the boat came ashore, far away from the motorbikes buying fish, carrying fish was busy. These days, coastal fishermen begin to exploit pit fish. This is a high-value seafood species that is exported to many countries. Starts sporadically after Tet, but from March to May is the time when the fish starts to be in season and is the most fat, fat and fragrant. According to the coastal seniors in Binh Chau commune, the fishing season is mainly from January to April of the lunar calendar because at this time the fish come back a lot. After the voyages to sea, the majority of the marine catch are usually pit fish with bright silver chalk, which is pleasing to the eye at first glance. Ho fish is very popular in foreign markets, so when it is exploited, traders also follow fishermen to go far to sea to buy and preserve on the spot. Hogfish is a special type of fish known as the sea fish with a dragon body because of its silvery sparkling appearance and fins running down its spine. Just like the fish in the sea, the fish in the open sea, the body is long and the body is flat, but black, the skin is covered by a thick, hard bone that runs from the head to the tail, looks very solid, the meat is lean, with little fat. than. The big one is about 1m long, the small one is about 50cm. They have a long body (average 60–90 cm), flattened on one side, with pointed teeth. Although it is a fierce fish, difficult to catch, but with high nutritional value, cobia is classified as a nutritious food for many people. The fish is very delicious when it is fresh and only those who directly practice at sea can enjoy it. Because before returning to the mainland, fish must be dried to ensure quality and keep for a long time. This year, the weather at the beginning of the year is favorable, the sea is calm, so the boats and boats are all hit by fish. Mr. Thanh, a fisherman in Binh Chau shared: “The fishermen usually go out to sea to catch fish from 3-4 am every day, then return to shore, every trip back to the sea is full of fish, so everyone is excited. “. At 4 a.m. every day, Binh Chau fishermen reach out to catch fish. They use a net 7 m wide, more than 300 m long, and drop it about 5 to 10 km from the coast. At 11 a.m., they reached the shore with a thick net and began to unload the fish. But seafaring is also very industrial, because only seasoned fishermen can see the flow of fish in action, in addition to the help of the locator and locator. According to local people, Ho fish often go in groups in the sea, at the beginning of the lunar year, they come to the shore. “This year, the weather is favorable at the beginning of the year, the sea is calm, so the boats and boats all hit fish holes, some people gain a few tens of kilograms, some people have a few hundred kilograms each trip,” said fisherman Nguyen Van Thinh. The fish meat is very delicious and is loved by many people. After collecting the net, the fish will be carefully removed, avoiding scratches, stored in a foam box with enough ice to ensure quality or temporarily dried on the boat. After that, the fish is transported from the sea to the mainland, a part is brought to the market to sell fresh, and part of the fish is salted for 2 days. Then let it dry in the sun to dry naturally. In the early morning, people have bought fresh pit fish from fishermen who went fishing in the sea. Ho fish is very popular in foreign markets, so when it is exploited, traders also follow fishermen to go far to sea to buy and preserve on the spot. Ho fish meat is very delicious, popular with many people, white hole fish for export currently has a high price of 70,000-75,000 VND/kg. Compared to previous years, the price of fish this year has increased. Sometimes through the large amount of catch, fresh fish cannot be consumed, the rest is transferred to dry by fishermen. Before being dried, the fish is washed in fresh water. After catching the fish, people will cut open the belly of the fish, clean it and strung it on bamboo strips about 5m long and then dry it. This stage is clean, the fish will be delicious to eat later and preserved for a long time. Dry fish pit. The fish head is the thickest place, so it will be spread out to let the sun shine in, helping to dry quickly. People in the coastal village often dry the fish by crossing a rope or pole to dry. After half a day of drying fish, people take the fish’s tail together to hang the fish head down, helping the fish to dry quickly and straight, convenient for packaging later. Although fresh fish brought back to dry, although it is laborious, it is very expensive to sell and gives a higher price than selling fresh fish. On average, 2kg of fresh halibut after drying in the sun, about 1kg of dried fish is obtained and sold for more than 120,000 VND. Under the sun over 37 degrees, the fish is dried for 8 consecutive days. The houses in these coastal villages all dry fish in season, from the front porch, on the pole to the fence, the long striped fish is brought out to dry.