Quang Ngai’s coastal fishermen are enjoying one of their most profitable tiny shrimp (ruốc biển) seasons in years, with abundant catches and steady prices earning them millions of dong each day.
Before dawn, the beach at Tinh Khe commune in Quang Ngai City hums with the sounds of engines starting and fishermen calling to one another as they head out to sea. With calm waters and clear skies, small boats set off eagerly for the new season. Within hours, as the sun rises, they return with hulls brimming with bright red tiny shrimp glistening in the morning light. Laughter and chatter blend with the sound of waves, painting a lively, bustling scene.
Boats catching tiny shrimp in Quang Ngai are typically small, manned by fewer than 10 crew members, and operate about three to four nautical miles from shore. When a school is spotted, fishermen use dip nets or encircling nets to harvest them. Each crew heads out around 4 a.m. and works until late afternoon, sometimes making three or four trips a day. A good haul can bring in a ton of tiny shrimp, with earnings ranging from VND 3 million to over VND 10 million per day, and even tens of millions for the luckiest boats.
“There’s plenty of tiny shrimp this year. Some days, it only takes a few hours to fill the boat. Prices are stable, and traders are waiting right at the dock, so we don’t worry about selling,” said fisherman Nguyen Thanh Trung from Ky Xuyen village in Tinh Khe commune. According to him, there are two main tiny shrimp seasons each year, in the third and eighth lunar months. “If the spring season is poor, the late-summer one often makes up for it. This year’s catch has doubled compared to previous years,” he added.
Fresh tiny shrimp are currently sold at VND 15,000-20,000 per kilogram, while dried tiny shrimp can fetch up to VND 80,000 per kilogram. With such prices, a few successful trips to sea can bring fishermen several million dong a day, and much more for large catches.
Back onshore, women and the elderly are just as busy. Along the sandy stretch of beach, sheets of plastic are laid out for drying tiny shrimp, turning the coast into a vivid carpet of red. The briny scent of seafood mingles with the sea breeze, capturing the vibrant rhythm of the fishing village.
“Dried tiny shrimp sell for a good price, so everyone takes advantage of sunny days to dry as much as possible. When the sea is calm and the shrimp are plentiful, it’s a bumper season. We just hope the weather stays favorable so it lasts longer,” said Nguyen Thi Don, 58, who has worked in the trade for more than 20 years.
Fishermen say the late-summer tiny shrimp season typically lasts two to three months, depending on weather and tides. This year’s waters have seen dense tiny shrimp populations close to shore, a rare bounty after several years of rough seas that made fishing difficult.
VFM
