In upstream areas like Thuong Phuoc Commune in Dong Thap Province, locals are busy preparing their traditional bamboo traps and nets, ready to begin a livelihood deeply tied to the rhythms of nature.
The first signs of the season's bounty are already appearing. Along the So Thuong River, a border waterway shared with Cambodia, fishermen are casting their nets for specialty fish.
Fifty-year-old fisherman Lam Van Teo with four decades of experience revealed that in previous years blood parrot cichlid, fish were abundant, and during the flood season farmers enjoyed plentiful catches. This year, the fish is less plentiful, but prices are higher; sometimes reaching up to VND300,000 per kilogram. As a result, not only residents of Thuong Lac but also those from Thuong Thoi Hau B are preparing boats, fishing gear, and nets to catch them.
On the So Thuong River in Thuong Lac Commune, local residents have begun casting nets to catch catfish and blood parrot cichlid fish. According to locals, blood parrot cichlid fish is a specialty that appears only from the sixth lunar month and lasts until the floodwaters overflow into the fields.
The reopening of the Muong Dop sluices in Thuong Phuoc has allowed the floodwaters to spread across the fields, creating a vast, shimmering landscape. This signifies the start of the season's activity for many. Tran Chi Thanh, a 48-year-old local, and his son were seen wading into the flooded fields, carrying new traps and rods to set up a dozen fishing spots, all in anticipation of a prosperous flood season.
Mr. Thanh shared that this year the floods arrived early, and the Henicorhynchus fish came early as well. Since yesterday, he has already sold nearly ten kilograms of young Henicorhynchus fish, he said. With prices ranging from VND100,000 to VND120,000 per kilogram, many residents in Thuong Phuoc can earn millions of Vietnamese dong per day if the catch is plentiful.
A 65 year old man from Thuong Phuoc Commune said that the rising waters have brought an abundance of shrimp and fish, ensuring a productive season for local residents. In recent years the catches have not been as good, but in earlier flood seasons he was able to catch several dozen kilograms of Henicorhynchus fish each day. “That’s why I say, when the floodwaters overflow into the fields, it’s normal for farmers to earn millions of dong a day, the old man affirmed.
Along the border roads, many collection points for flood-season produce have appeared. 46 year old Le Thi Hoai from Hong Ngu Ward, a trader specializing in buying and selling seasonal products in the Thuong Lac area, said that this year young Henicorhynchus fish arrived early. Although the flood season has just begun, the catch is already abundant. In addition, there are loaches, eels, shrimp, crabs, snails, as well as seasonal vegetables such as water mimosa, sesban flowers, and water lilies. These flood-season specialties are purchased and supplied to provinces and cities across the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City.
In recent years, people in the Mekong Delta have been ‘thirsting for floods’. This scarcity stems from upstream changes, climate change, and human interventions that disrupt natural balance. Nevertheless, nature still grants floodplain farmers a touch of alluvial fragrance and seasonal produce, as if in response to their longing for the flood season.
