The flood season in low-lying areas of Can Tho City often comes later than in Dong Thap and An Giang. Usually, around the end of the 6th lunar month, when the water rises for half a dong, bringing alluvium, shrimp and fish is also the time to open up livelihoods for local people. In many places, people take advantage of natural aquatic products, raising freshwater fish, and catching snails to increase their income during the free months.
For the past 2 months, when the water has begun to rise, Mr. Luu Binh in Nga Nam ward (Can Tho city) has been busy making a living. In the early morning, he and a few friends took the dike to the field, only to return in the afternoon.
According to Mr. Binh, at the beginning of the flood season (the end of the 6th lunar month), the amount of freshwater fish is abundant, each day he pushes 7 - 8kg of fish, selling the most at 120,000 VND/kg. Currently, the water is rising, the fish are thinner, only 3 - 5kg per day, priced from 30,000 - 90,000 VND/kg, but still enough to bring in an income of several hundred thousand VND.
Explaining this unique method of catching fish, Mr. Luu Binh said: The dike is a tool made from small iron stones attached to a rope tied along the bamboo stick and tied together. To have a sturdy conical table, it is necessary to weld 2 iron bars into a V-shaped shape and a vertical connecting pipe to connect the parts together. The cost of a Conical pan is about 500,000 VND, and can be used for 5-6 years. The age club is placed in front of the boat's bow, the person pushing it behind uses the force to push the boat forward, at that time the age club will touch the fish, the fish will wade into the mud, at this time just need to use a boat to catch.
Mr. Binh said that compared to other forms of fishing, pushing the Kong requires endurance because it has to wade through one field to another. However, in return, this profession brings in a good income, because most of the fish caught are snakehead fish with large weight and high economic value. Small fish are often not affected, so fishing is limited.
According to the records, Mr. Tram Kim Men in Nga Nam ward (Can Tho city) said that he catches 3 - 4kg of fish every day, earning about 200,000 VND/day. "The fish is sold to traders, and the rest is eaten indoors, saving money and having fresh food," Mr. Men shared.
Meanwhile, many people also choose to catch golden crab snails as a livelihood.
Ms. Khau Thi Song in Nga Nam ward (Can Tho city) shared: "There are many snails in the flood season, big and easy to catch. Every day I deposit, I earn tens to hundreds of coins. This year, the snails were purchased by traders at a higher price than previous years. Whole shell snails are 2,200 VND/kg and snail meat is 18,000 VND/kg. On average, I earn hundreds of thousands of VND per day, and I earn a few million during the flood season."
In addition to natural exploitation, many farmers in communes such as Hoa An, Phung Hiep, Phuong Binh, My Tu, Nga Nam, Tan Long (Can Tho City) also take advantage of flooded fields to grow lotus, grow water caltrops combined with fish farming.
Mr. Tran Tan Dat in My Tu commune (Can Tho city) said that with only 5 hectares of rice fields, after 4 months of raising them, he harvested about 5 tons of fish, earning tens of millions of VND. "This land is low, producing Autumn-Winter rice is a loss. Raising fish in the fields is low cost, just buy seeds and nets. The fish eat moss- owned seaweed naturally, so they grow quickly and take less care of them," Mr. Dat shared.
According to the fish farmer, the main farming is catfish, carp, combined with lure of catfish, snakehead fish, carp, and stray fish in the wild. On average, 1kg of fish fry after 3 months will reach about 20kg of meat fish, with an output of 700 - 800kg/ha.
