Raising fried fish is like raising a flock of “sea monsters” in a cage
In addition to growing corn and vegetables on the riverside alluvial soil in their spare time, farmers in Van Tap village (Hop Nhat commune, Doan Hung district, Phu Tho province) have for generations now focused on catching and raising fish in cages on the Lo River with many specialty fish.
In particular, many households here have become richer by raising fried fish – a fish known as “water monster”, “lord of the river”.
With specialty fried fish farming such as the “squall” of the Lo River, he spends more time on the river than on land, Hoa knows the flow, the depth, each underground rock, the ravine where the river bottom is like in his heart. hand. Photo: Cao Khoi
Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa (Hop Nhat commune, Doan Hung district, Phu Tho province) said that his whole family now has even ten members living on both aquatic resources caught on Lo River.
According to Mr. Hoa, fried fish is classified into the group of “five precious ha Thuy” fish (fried fish, halibut, blue girdle, anh vu, sudden fish). With a strange shape, a dominant large head, and a body covered with black and mossy green spots, adult fried fish can weigh 50-60kg. This fish is also often referred to as “water monster” or “lord of the riverbed” by fishermen because of its aggressive nature, preferring to live in fast water, next to caves, cliffs, etc.
Adult fried fish can weigh more than 50kg. Photo: LT
Mr. Hoa said that fried fish is the most valuable of all aquatic species caught on the Lo River. This is a specialty of the ancient king, so fried fish meat is classified as particularly fragrant, delicious, has a yellow color like turmeric, only the right spine runs along the spine and no bones.
“The bigger the fried fish, the firmer the meat, the crispy is very delicious. In particular, this fish has a large, thick intestine like a pig’s stomach, crispy and rough. So this is also the type of fish that fishermen in the village. Van Tap focused on hunting “- Mr. Hoa said.
Building the brand of fried fish Van Tap
According to Mr. Hoa, most of the fishermen in Van Tap often catch fried fish, but few people are able to catch big fish in large numbers. Thanks to his “charm”, he is fluent in each section of the river and Lo stream, so Mr. Hoa has repeatedly caught 30-40kg of fried fish in front of the admiring eyes of the fishing village brothers.
Fried fish is especially delicious, the price is many times higher than that of other freshwater fish, so it is mainly sold to restaurants by farmers. Photo: LT
However, traveling on the river for more than a decade to catch wild fish, Mr. Hoa realized that he needed to “settle and live happily”. So, from all the capital saved, in 2020, Mr. Hoa decided to switch from wild fishing to raising fried fish in cages.
Currently, Mr. Hoa’s family has 20 cages of fried fish of all sizes. In which, there are 10 cages with the number of about 1,000 fish weighing 3-4kg/head, all of which can be sold. Because it is both rare and popular in the market, the commercial fried fish raised by Mr. Hoa has a much higher selling price than conventional fish varieties.
“Currently, fried fish is sold for about 600,000 – 700,000 VND / kg. Very few people buy it to eat, but mainly hotel restaurants come to order. One person told the other, my fried fish is now famous all over the world. In regions, no matter how big the fish is, there are customers who come to order all of them, it has never been in stock. Except for expenses, my family has a stable income of more than 600 million VND from raising fried fish every year,” said Mr. Hoa. said excitedly.
Currently, in Van Tap village (Hop Nhat commune, Doan Hung district, Phu Tho province) there are 53 households with 215 people, most of them are Catholics, living mainly on rivers.
Recently, many households have invested in raising fish in cages on the river with specialty fried fish for a stable income at a relatively high level.
Up to now, in the commune, there are over 30 cages of fried fish spread along the banks of the Lo River. However, because the source of fingerlings can only be obtained from wild fishing, the domestication process is very difficult, so the model of raising fried fish in large numbers has not been replicated.
Currently, Hop Nhat commune is actively supporting people with breeding and farming techniques to expand the fried fish farming model. At the same time, strengthen the building of Van Tap fried fish brand, connect the consumption market to help farmers improve their income, thereby contributing to the local socio-economic development.