After the Lunar New Year, the weather is favorable, this time the coast of Ha Loi Trung village (Ben Hai commune, Quang Tri) the working atmosphere becomes bustling when there are continuous boat trips carrying jellyfish ashore. From early morning to late afternoon, the beach is always bustling with people pulling nets, transporting and purchasing.
In the midday sun, Mr. Nguyen Tien Loi (37 years old) still quickly picked up each fresh jellyfish from the boat's hold and brought them ashore. He said that from 3 am, his boat had set sail, only about 1.5 nautical miles from the shore, it was possible to catch jellyfish with large output.
This season, there are many jellyfish, in the past few days when he returned, Mr. Loi fished near the shore, bringing back 1.5 - 2 tons each trip. Jellyfish fishing is not too hard but has a stable income, so Loi is very excited.
According to local fishermen, jellyfish exploitation is quite simple. After casting nets, just about an hour after pulling them up, they are full of jellyfish. Small boats continue to transport jellyfish from large boats to the shore, on average each day they have to run 3-4 trips to run out of output.
Ms. Ngo Thi Hong (55 years old, residing in Ha Loi Trung village) said that the jellyfish season started about a month ago. With a selling price of 2,000 VND/kg, she can earn from 4 - 5 million VND per day.
Along this beach, there is only one purchasing facility, so all the jellyfish caught are brought here. The jellyfish season is not long, only a few weeks left, so everyone is taking advantage of going to sea," Ms. Hong shared.
Jellyfish after being brought ashore are gathered and transported by trailer to the processing area. Here, the jellyfish processing stage takes place quite elaborately and lasts for many days.
Mr. Le Bang, owner of a jellyfish ready-to-eat processing facility in Ben Hai commune (Quang Tri province) said that this year jellyfish production has increased sharply. On peak days, his facility purchases up to 55 tons of jellyfish.
Jellyfish are sorted, cut off the itchy part, then centrifuged for about 8 hours to remove the slime, and then continued to soak in salt for about a week before packaging. After processing, the selling price is about 44,000 VND/kg," Mr. Bang said.
According to Mr. Bang, last year the facility sold about 1,000 tons of jellyfish. With abundant exploitation output as it is now, this year this number may far exceed.
Jellyfish season not only brings significant income to fishermen but also creates jobs for many coastal workers. On the beaches, the joy of a bumper crop is evident on every face, when this simple seafood becomes a "sea fortune" to help people improve their lives.
