Tourists visit the fish sauce production area at Khai Hoan fish sauce barrel house on Phu Quoc island. (Photo: Le Huy Hai/VNA) The profession of making fish sauce has existed for over 200 years and has been associated with the cultural life of the people of Phu Quoc island city. On May 27, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 1730/QD-BVHTTDL recognizing the profession of fish sauce making in Phu Quoc, Duong Dong ward, An Thoi ward, Phu Quoc city. Kien Giang province is a national intangible cultural heritage. It can be said that, in the context of difficulties due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, this is still a great joy, a motivation for people making fish sauce in Phu Quoc to continue preserving and promoting the quintessence of fish sauce. traditional profession left by his father. Chairman of the Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association, Ho Kim Lien, said that Phu Quoc waters have many types of seaweed and plankton which are the main food source for anchovies, the main raw material for making fish sauce. Therefore, anchovies grow abundantly in this sea. More than 200 years ago, the profession of making fish sauce existed in Phu Quoc, people caught fresh anchovies and salted them right on the ship, before bringing them back to brew in barrels. Incubating anchovies in wooden barrels is a feature of Phu Quoc fish sauce making. Boi Loi is a type of wood used to make fish sauce barrels, which are abundant in Phu Quoc forest. The longer the barrel is left, the stronger the wood, the better the quality of the fish sauce. The barrel has a round cylinder with a wide mouth, made from 55 boards of equal sizes: 2.2m long, 20cm wide, 6cm thick; The diameter of the barrel mouth is about 3.2m, the bottom is about 2.6m. The barrel is strapped with green rattan in the forest. Ms. Ho Kim Lien said that fish sauce production is based on traditional manual methods with the recipe of 3 anchovies + 1 salt. It takes 10-15 months to produce fish sauce. From the first to the last water will be divided into different types of fish sauce, with different protein levels; Depending on the ratio of protein more or less from 20-43 protein, the price of fish sauce is different. Phu Quoc fish sauce has a brown color of cockroach wings with a characteristic flavor of mild aroma, salty taste, and sweet aftertaste. According to Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association, Phu Quoc fish sauce began to thrive and flourish from 1945 to now. Since 1998, with the support of the French Embassy in Hanoi, the Ministry of Fisheries and the province Kien Giang conducting registration dossiers for geographical indications, on June 1, 2001, Phu Quoc fish sauce was the first product to be registered in Vietnam. In July 2013, the European Union (EU) awarded the “Phu Quoc” certificate of origin for Vietnamese fish sauce products in Brussels (Belgium). In August 2013, the Ministry of Industry and Trade handed over this certificate to the representative of the People’s Committee of Phu Quoc island district and the Association Phu Quoc fish sauce Since then, Phu Quoc fish sauce products have been protected and developed up to now. Currently, Phu Quoc city has about 100 fish sauce factories, concentrated in Duong Dong and An Thoi wards. The source of raw anchovies is currently limited, from now to 2025, Phu Quoc strives to produce 12 million liters of fish sauce per year on average. Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association was established in October 2000, currently has 53 members. Chairman of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association Ho Kim Lien said that, in addition to the advantages of being protected by geographical indications, Phu Quoc fish sauce craft villages are always respected by the People’s Committee of Kien Giang province and the People’s Committee of Phu Quoc city. focus on maintaining and developing. Over the years, consumers everywhere have known about the Phu Quoc fish sauce brand, helping to sell more traditional products of the craft village. This is also a tourism products unique in the island city of Phu Quoc, attracting tourists to visit, learn about craft village culture in particular and discover the cultural life of people on Ngoc island. According to Ms. Ho Kim Lien, the difficulty of the current Phu Quoc fish sauce industry is that a part of consumers has not yet identified the genuine Phu Quoc traditional fish sauce, so the price is not stable. Currently, there is no planning for Phu Quoc fish sauce craft village, so the craft village has not been concentrated into a sightseeing place for tourists. To meet the development of craft village , Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association hopes that there should soon be a concentrated craft village planning to stabilize production and business, create a favorable development environment for craft villages; At the same time, there is a gathering place, serving to introduce and promote the traditional fish sauce craft to visitors. Chairman of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association Ho Kim Lien said that in the coming time, Phu Quoc fish sauce will focus on developing quality rather than quantity, to continue affirming the quality of the brand. After being recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Phu Quoc fish sauce making continues towards being recognized by UNESCO as a world intangible cultural heritage. . This helps increase the brand value of Phu Quoc fish sauce, contributes to raising the local cultural heritage, and helps promote the image of the beautiful island city of Phu Quoc to international friends.

Open up livelihood opportunities Currently, the farming of sea cucumbers in Vietnam needs 20 million breeds of sea cucumbers, but in the country, it is only active about 1 million breeds of sea cucumbers to serve the needs of the farmers, while the white sea cucumber breeds have. 5 times the value of sand sea cucumber is still difficult. To study the breeding of white-breasted sea cucumber, Institute III collaborated with USC University to implement the project to improve production of high-value sea cucumber through molecular technology. Raising white-breasted sea cucumbers by cages in Van Ninh sea. With the use of a hormone produced at USC University, extracted from the nerves of the sea cucumber itself, then transplanted into yeast to multiply on a large scale in the laboratory, effectively stimulating reproduction. High and does not affect the health of white-breasted sea cucumber parents. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Quang Duy – project manager said: Using hormones instead of traditional methods has stimulated the reproduction of white breasted sea cucumber successfully. The project has produced nearly 20,000 breeders for commercial experiments and breeding trials on cages in Khanh Hoa, Quang Ninh with 3 households participating. Commercial white sea cucumber. Mr. Nguyen Duc Thoai (Dam Mon village, Van Thanh commune, Van Ninh district) raised white-breasted sea cucumber experiment on cages said, after 8 months of raising, from the breed with a weight of about 0.3 grams increased to gain amount of 60 grams, survival rate reached 92%. The successful production of white-breasted sea cucumber will open up opportunities to create livelihoods for aquaculture farmers in the province in the near future. Reduce natural extraction pressure According to the leaders of the Fisheries Department, the successful production of white sea cucumber will help diversify aquatic breeds, reduce the pressure of natural exploitation, especially serving the strategic direction of fisheries development of the province during the period. next time; At the same time, contributing to environmental protection … However, white sea cucumber is often distributed at a depth of tens of meters, so the stocking in cages at low depths, whether it really brings efficiency is required. specific reviews. In this regard, scientists believe that, before, white-breasted sea cucumber distributed a lot in shallow areas. However, due to the rarity and overexploitation, sea cucumbers have higher and higher depth distribution. Therefore, raising white-breasted sea cucumber in the cage is very positive, helping to improve the environment very well. Currently, the output of white-breasted sea cucumber is mainly purchased by Vietnam Sea cucumber Joint Stock Company. “Products of Vietnam Sea cucumber Joint Stock Company 90% for export markets: Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and in the near future will expand markets in the US, China … Besides processing dried sea cucumber. , the company also produces products that consumers can slice using fresh. Currently, the company boosts purchasing in Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen. The company can afford to buy products for white-breasted sea cucumber farmers, ”said Mr. Le Thanh Nhan – Chairman and General Director of Vietnam Sea cucumber Joint Stock Company. FLASH LA

One person offered to sell tiger fish for nearly 20 million VND / fish Assessing the danger level of piranha to the ecosystem, since 1998, the Ministry of Fisheries (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) has issued a directive banning import and farming of this fish. However, in Ho Chi Minh City, the fish that often appear in these horror movies are being sold publicly. At a selling point of ornamental fish in P. Linh Dong, Thu Duc city, a tank full of tiger fish is located in the middle of the store. The owner of the store, Hoang Hai, said that the tank currently has about 500 red belly piranhas with a length of 4-5 cm, each costing 90,000 VND. “Due to the large number, we have to feed the fish with bran, but there are always a few other fish species in the tank for them to whine when hungry. Just two more months, they will grow about 7-9cm, then they develop very slowly in length ”- Mr. Hai added. According to him, currently most piranha breeders choose red-bellied species because they are easy to breed and easy to keep. Yellow belly piranhas are difficult to propagate and must be hunted in the wild, so the price is always many times higher than the red belly piranhas. When we asked about the natural hunting ground, Mr. Hai refused to answer. At a selling point of ornamental fish in Binh Thanh District, the owner of a shop named Thuan said that this place sells mature red-bellied piranhas, as big as an adult’s hand. VND 500,000 / child. This same species, but with a hump on the nape is called a “hump” fish, costing a million dong each. Mr. Thuan added: “Rarely, the yellow-bellied tiger fish, 32cm in length, 17-19cm in size, costs 8 million VND / fish, and when grown up, it costs about 19 million VND / fish. In order to keep the piranhas, at least five need to be stocked in a tank ”. All piranhas at this store come from the Amazon region of Brazil, he said. “The movement to raise tiger fish from 2018 has been maintained until now. People who play unique ornamental fish like to hunt for piranhas to raise because they have eye-catching colors, many types, small body but very aggressive and aggressive. Newcomers of tiger fish often raise red-bellied tiger fish or Newbe, Manu, Mac, Cariba, then “upgrade” to the most aggressive species, Black Diamond “- owner of an aquarium shop in District 7 named Tinh, said. According to Tinh, tiger fish do not eat pellets, dry or frozen food. To limit the aggressiveness of this fish, some people replace raw meat with vegetarian food when they are young. However, when changing the diet is not suitable, the fish can “go crazy”, eating fellow meat. “Piranhas can bite people. Many of my clients often suffer from fish bites bleeding or scratching their hands when changing seaweed, taking things in the tank “- Mr. Tinh said. Not only selling publicly in stores, but also available for sale on the internet, most popularly via Facebook. Most of the website owners promote an unlimited number of fish, including red and yellow belly piranhas, the average price is from 90,000-170,000 VND / fish. Talking to the reporter of Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Newspaper, Mr. Dinh Minh Hiep – Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development – confirmed that tiger fish are in the group of alien species, not allowed to import and grow; All forms of raising, trading and importing are in violation of the law: “Any locality that detects it, it will confiscate, destroy and sanction based on the level of violation”. (According to Women HCMC)