Sa Huynh village in Pho Thanh commune, Duc Pho district, is an important locale for processing seafood in the central province of Quang Ngai.

The fish processed by Sa Huynh villagers comes from nearly 1,500 boats at Pho Thach fishing port in Duc Pho district. Pho Thanh is the biggest fishing port in Quang Ngai, which accounts for two-thirds of the total fishery output in the province.

As a salt-making hub in Quang Ngai, Duc Pho district has all the conditions for processing seafood. It is Quang Ngai’s largest seafood-processing center with 20 traditional processing factories mainly in Pho Thanh commune.  Seafood processing is the main source of income for locals in Sa Huynh.

Sa Huynh village is the seafood processing center of Quang Ngai province. Sa Huynh dried seafood products are popular in the market.  Cleaning cuttlefish before drying.  Pho Thanh is the biggest fishing port in Quang Ngai, which accounts for two-thirds of the total fishery output in the province. Women take charge of preliminary processing and drying. Drying cuttlefish.  Half-dried cutlefish - a specialty of the localilty. Fresh fish ready for processing.

Le Thi Mai, the owner of a factory that dries and processes seafood in Sa Huynh said that everyday her small factory processes about 3 tons of seafood, mostly cuttlefish, and employs between 60 and 100 locals during the busy season, which lasts from the fifth to twelfth lunar months.

- Sa Huynh culture dates back between 1000 BC and 200 AD. It is one of the three cradles of Vietnam’s ancient civilization with Dong Son and Oc Eo cultures of the Iron Age. Fishing is the oldest trade of Sa Huynh. - Duc Pho has a 40-km coastline which makes up one-third of Quang Ngai’s coast and a fishing area of over 3,000 km2. The district has six coastal communes where locals make a living from fishing.

 

By Cong Dat