This crop has a good harvest of jellyfish and a good price, bringing significant income to fishermen in coastal villages.
Some people call jellyfish ‘white gold’ because it is a major source of income for thousands of fishermen and people who work in seafood processing plants. Jellyfish season usually starts in January but the main season is from February to March and April when the region embraces unrelenting heat waves.
This time, fishermen along the coastal villages in Hoang Hoa District, Sam Son City, Quang Xuong District of Thanh Hoa Province; Quynh Luu and Dien Chau districts of Nghe An Province are catching both herring fish and jellyfish to improve their income.
Every day, fishermen go out to sea from about 3-4 a.m. and they return at about 7-8 a.m., then continue on the second trip. On average, each raft catches 2-3 quintals of jellyfish per trip; sometimes, it can be 4-5 quintals of jellyfish. Jellyfish are sold on the beach and at the wharf at the price from VND20,000 to VND25,000 each jellyfish depending on the size.
Fisherman Nguyen Van Nam in village 10 of Thanh Hoa Province’s Quang Hai Commune said that catching jellyfish is more difficult than catching herring fish and sea shrimp because the jellyfish body is heavy but fishermen must keep it in good shape. In return, they earn more money as the demand for jellyfish in the summer is huge.
Le Pham Thao, owner of a jellyfish processing facility in Hoang Truong commune, said that jellyfish has high nutritional value and the consumption demand of this seafood is huge in the hot summer. Jellyfish is not only consumed domestically but also exported, it is especially favored by Chinese people.
