On January 19, Tuoi Tre Online recorded that at the Kien River estuary and Rach Gia City (Kien Giang) branch canals running to Cai Be - Cai Lon River (Chau Thanh District), people were bustlingly running boats to the sea to cast nets, set traps, and catch fish and shrimp to sell to earn money to buy cakes, jams, and nice clothes for their children and grandchildren to celebrate Tet.

Ms. Hoang Thi Yen (a resident of Chau Thanh district) said that her family does not have any farmland, so they make a living by fishing on rivers and at sea. After the flood season in the fields (from November 2024 to present), she and her husband take a sampan to anchor at the branches of canals and rivers that flow into the sea to hunt for fish.

“I only go home once every ten days or half a month. This year, the fish and shrimp are not as plentiful as last year. After a night of fishing, I set up nets and traps and at most I catch 5-10kg of mullet, shrimp and catfish. There are few fish and I don’t earn much money, but I still try to earn money to buy cakes, candies and clothes for my children to celebrate Tet,” Ms. Yen shared.

“At 2am, I always run out to the sea to spread nets and catch fish. The waves are windy, there are few fish, the boat is small, we cannot go far out to sea, so sometimes we work all night without catching any fish. That’s life, so now we just try to earn as much as we can,” said Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, sitting next to Ms. Yen.

Although there are few fish and shrimp, Ms. Yen and Mr. Cuong still keep the selling price stable, fluctuating from 30,000 - 100,000 VND/kg (depending on mullet, catfish or shrimp). Although the price of fish is not high, the local people still support and buy all of it.

Some pictures of hunting fish and shrimp in the Kien Giang sea encroachment area:

Hunting for fish for Tet

TTO – Turning off the engine at a distance, Mr. Sau Thuan used the oar to gently row the boat to the mouth of the Kien River culvert (Rach Gia City, Kien Giang) and then dropped the net to catch the "frightened" freshwater fish because of the salt water.