(Baonghean.vn) - Despite the time and workmanship it takes, shrimp fishing by bamboo traps on Lam River is still popular among many fishermen in Anh Son district. With the technique, they normally earn about 200,000-300,000 dong per day.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lieu and her husband in Village 3, Thach Son commune have been making a living from shrimp fishing for nearly 50 years. As she shared, the most effective way to catch shrimps is dropping bamboo traps in the river. Therefore, everyday, she and her husband spend much of their time on making traps and going shrimp fishing to earn extra income.Making bamboo traps for shrimp catching requires much of workmanship, from choosing materials to wickerwork. Split laths should be made from Neohouzeaua, and then soaked into the river to enhance their toughness. Each lath is about 60cm in length, small and lacquer-drawn, and the distance between the laths shouldn’t be too scattered. The bamboo shrimp traps are created by the skillful hands of the fisherman. However, baits are still necessary to attract shrimps to come inside the trap. Those baits are often savory burned pork skin. After placing the baits into the trap, the trap is tied to two heavy rocks by rope and dropped into the water so that it is suspended in water surface. Every day, Ms. Lieu and her husband drop about 100 shrimp traps into Lam river. Next day, the fishermen continue pulling up the traps. After taking out the shrimps, they put other baits into the traps and then throw it again. This procedure is repeated day by day. Normally, each household has dozens of shrimp traps on their fishing boat. Today, shrimp production reduces but in contrast, shrimp price increases to 200,000-250,000 dong/kg on average; thus, fishermen can earn hundreds of thousands of dongs from caught shrimps a day. Reporter: Huyen Trang
Translator: Hien Nguyen