Shrimp and fish flock to the wharf
In mid-August, at the wharves along the Son La hydropower lake in Quynh Nhai commune, the working atmosphere was bustling from early morning. Each fishing boat returning brought river shrimp, goby fish and many natural seafood.
As soon as they do dock, shrimp and fish are quickly brought ashore for classification, fish are selected by size, pre-processed or packaged, and purchasing points continuously transport goods to provinces and cities.
Quynh Nhai commune has more than 4,666ha of lake surface, which is a great advantage for developing aquaculture and seafood exploitation. Along with thousands of fish cages, natural aquatic resources are creating livelihoods for many households.
Among the lake products, river shrimp and goby fish are favored by the market. River shrimp are often consumed fresh or pre-processed immediately after being caught. Goby fish, in addition to being sold fresh, is also dried and packaged for transportation far away.
Ms. Hoang Thi Thai, Pa Uon sub-area, who has been purchasing and preliminary processing lake seafood for many years, said that the facility purchases about 3 quintals of river shrimp and 3-4 quintals of goby fish from people every day.
Shrimp and fish arriving at the wharf must be sorted and pre-processed immediately. Shrimp are trimmed, cleaned and then iced; goby fish are also pre-processed according to the requirements of each source. Goods are mainly brought to Hung Yen, Hanoi, Hai Phong and some provinces and cities," Ms. Thai said.
Many women in the Pa Uon area take advantage of working overtime, both having jobs and increasing income.
Ms. Lo Thi Sinh said that her main job is to cut beards and clean shrimp. She usually starts around 10 am and works until 2 pm or 3 pm. On busy days, if done quickly, she can pre-process 30-40kg of shrimp.
The work must be quick but also careful so that the shrimp are not crushed and keep their freshness. With regular goods, income is also stable," Ms. Sinh shared.
Enhancing value from lake products
Not only selling fresh shrimp and fish, Quynh Nhai people are gradually shifting to preliminary processing and processing to extend the preservation time, diversify products and expand the market.
Ms. Lo Thi Bien, Pa Uon sub-area, said that fish prices range from 50,000-200,000 VND/kg, depending on the type and quality.
In addition to selling directly to tourists, Ms. Bien also posts sales on social networks, sending goods to provinces and cities. "On average, I earn a profit of about 200,000 VND per day; on holidays and Tet, customers buy a lot, and some days I earn more than 1 million VND," Ms. Bien informed.
From local raw materials, people and cooperatives have developed many products such as dried fish, oiled shrimp, boneless goby fish, frozen fillet fish, fermented shrimp, fish cakes, fish sausage and fish floss.
Some products have been built into OCOP. Dao Thi Hieu's production and business facility has Da River fish cake and fish sausage with OCOP 3 stars, consumption output of nearly 1 ton/month. Processing helps reduce dependence on selling fresh fish, while creating more jobs and increasing the value of lake products.
According to Mr. Tong Xuan Truong, Vice Chairman of Quynh Nhai Commune People's Committee, the locality identifies seafood as one of the key industries. The commune encourages people and cooperatives to develop aquaculture and seafood exploitation associated with preliminary processing and processing; build OCOP products, promote and connect consumption.
Along with exploitation, Quynh Nhai strengthens inspection, prevents forms of destructive fishing, and protects natural aquatic resources.
River shrimp, goby fish and lake products have become important sources of income, when linking fishing with preliminary processing and processing, the value of aquatic products and people's livelihoods are improved.
