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Giant freshwater prawns from Bo River |
A million-dollar fishing trip
One morning in mid-July, at around 4 a.m., Vo An, a resident of Thanh Luong neighborhood in Kim Tra Ward, was already awake. The first thing the nearly 30-year-old did was crack open the window to gauge the morning sky. About five minutes later, An was dressed in a diving suit, carrying a 1.2-meter, four-pronged spear made from a bamboo shaft and sharpened cyclo-spoke steel. He walked to his uncle’s house to prepare for the day’s hunt for giant freshwater prawns.
With An’s sharp tug on the starter cord, the small vessel pulled away from Thanh Lương and headed upstream along the Bo River. After about twenty minutes, he turned off the engine. Uncle and nephew quickly strapped 15-20 kilograms of lead belts around their waists and slung long, narrow mesh baskets over their shoulders. They switched on the surface air pump, put on their diving masks, gripped their breathing hoses firmly between their teeth, and gently slipped beneath the crystal-clear water.
About fifteen minutes later, the river’s surface suddenly rippled as clusters of bubbles rose from below. Then An emerged. One hand clung to the side of the boat while the other unclipped the mesh bag fastened around his waist. Despite the breathing tube still in his mouth, his broad grin showed a successful dive: inside the net thrashed two enormous giant freshwater prawns.
Without pausing to rest, he quickly put the prawns into the bottom of the boat and plunged back into the river. On the surface, streams of bubbles rose up again with a gurgling sound, sometimes drifting ten meters apart, sometimes converging in the same spot. I imagined that the uncle and nephew alternated between fanning out to track the prawns and closing in together to corner their elusive prey in the deep below.
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| A 30-meter-long snorkel is indispensable equipment when diving for prawns |
An surfaced for the second time about five minutes sooner than during his previous dive, followed by his uncle just moments later. Both held their mesh bags high above the water. Inside, the prawns snapped their powerful claws with a sharp, rhythmic clicking, while droplets sprayed from the nets like a fleeting drizzle across the river’s surface.
After just two rounds of diving, An and his uncle had caught six giant freshwater prawns. Picking up the largest one after carefully tying its claws together, An’s uncle hefted it and estimated, “This one is about half a kilogram. The others are around 300 to 350 grams each.”
They continued to travel another kilometer upstream. After observing the surroundings to pinpoint a familiar spot, the two men turned off the engine, repeated their well-practiced routine, and slipped quietly into the deep water. This dive was even shorter, only about ten minutes, but yielded a good haul: five more freshly caught prawns, each weighing roughly 300 to 400 grams. As he was busy tying the prawns’ claws, An could hardly hide his smile: “This time we dropped right onto a group gathered together feeding,” he said. “I caught them all at once instead of having to dive around looking for them one by one.”
An said hunting giant freshwater prawns is not so complicated, but success depends on the ability to remember where the prawns shelter and forage apart from diving skills. “They’re just like termite mushrooms,” he explained. “If they show up in one spot this season, they’ll probably be back in the exact same place next season.”
Once a prawn is spotted, the diver must circle behind it because the animal instinctively darts backward when startled. The spear should be aimed at the rear half of the body, and the thrust must be swift and precise, as well as carefully controlled the force of the spear so that it will not drive through the prawn. A clean strike leaves the back intact, allowing the prawns to stay healthy in holding cages for an extended period before they are delivered to customers.
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Catching the giant freshwater prawns underwater of the Bo River |
As the boat drifted downstream along the Bo River, An’s uncle finished tying the claws of the last few prawns. Raising his voice above the rumble of the engine, he called out cheerfully: “That should be about three and a half kilos. It’s enough to buy rice. No need to head out again tonight.”
When the boat stopped by a giant freshwater prawn buying station on the riverbank, just 300 meters from An’s home, the catch weighed exactly 3.5 kilograms. His estimate proved spot on. Although An declined to reveal the wholesale price paid by restaurants, with the prawns selling on restaurant menus for around VND 750,000 per kilogram, it is easy to estimate that the uncle and nephew had earned well over one million dong after just a few hours on the river that morning.
Tracing the Origins of the Giant Freshwater Prawn
An’s uncle, Vo Quang, was born in 1981. His weathered face and sun-darkened skin make him look much older than his years, making it impossible to guess he has yet to reach fifty. Quang explained that his family has been working as professional divers for three generations. Along the banks of the Bo River, virtually everyone in the trade knows their family, and it was Quang who passed the craft of diving on to An.
“Over the past ten years, there have only been three people regularly hunting giant freshwater prawns along this stretch of the Bo River: I, An, and another young man I trained. I don’t mean to keep the trade to myself, but professional diving isn’t something just anyone can learn. Being able to swim doesn’t mean you can dive. And even among those who can dive, not everyone has the nerve to bite an air hose and descend 10 or 15 meters, sometimes even 20 meters, to the pitch-black riverbed, staying underwater for 20 or 30 minutes just to follow a prawn. That’s why, even if I tell someone exactly where the prawns are usually found, there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to dive down and catch them,” Quang said.
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| A serving of giant freshwater prawn |
Although many diners have enjoyed the giant freshwater prawns caught by An and his uncle, quite a few remain skeptical. Some are convinced the prawns must be farm-raised and shipped in from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta area. It is impossible that there are such enormous river prawns in Hue, and that local restaurants can keep 10 to 15 of them in stock every day, except during the flood season.
“About ten years ago, I speared one that weighed more than 1.2 kilograms near the foot of the Huong Dien Hydropower Dam. It was as big as an adult’s upper arm,” Quang recalled. “And over there where a bamboo grove was washed away by floods, I once caught more than thirty prawns in a single dive. Such giant freshwater prawns of that size have hardly been seen, but there are still plenty of them. On an ordinary day, both of us can usually bring in five to six kilograms if we dive both in the morning and the evening.”
Whether the story of the 1.2-kilogram prawn is factual or not is still open to debate. What is beyond doubt, however, is that wild giant freshwater prawns weighing 300 to 500 grams are indeed being caught in the Bo River. They have existed in the area for quite a time rather than a recent occurrence. The question is why Hue has these giant river prawns. Some people who know the Mekong Delta’s prawn fisheries well even insist that the Bo River prawns grow larger than their southern counterparts. They also note that the local prawns have noticeably thinner shells, resulting in a higher meat yield and flesh that is firmer, sweeter, and more flavorful.
Although many people were asked, there was no definitive answer to the question about the origin of the giant freshwater prawns in the Bo River. One plausible explanation is that the prawns originated from stock released as part of government programs to replenish aquatic resources. The juvenile prawns may initially have been brought from the Mekong Delta, but successive generations were carried downstream before establishing themselves in the Bo River. Owing to ideal natural conditions, an abundant food supply, and most importantly, the absence of destructive fishing practices, the giant freshwater prawns adapted remarkably well to their new habitat and continued to grow.
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| A journey of hunting giant freshwater prawns by Vo An and his uncle |
Mr. Mai Van Xuan, Vice Chairman of the Kim Trà Ward People’s Committee, addressed the question whether the giant freshwater prawn fishery practiced by An and his uncle posed any threat to the Bo River’s ecosystem. He did not consider it a destructive form of fishing, and its impact on the Bo River’s ecosystem was minimal, explaining that while the prawn population is neither especially abundant nor scarce, the catch is small in scale and entirely manual.
The Bo River’s giant freshwater prawns, albeit little known outside the area, have already earned the approval of discerning diners who have tasted them. The quality coupled with the river’s healthy natural environment presents an intriguing opportunity. If conditions permit, local authorities could consider making the Bo River a regular site for releasing juvenile prawns for biodiversity diversity and for additional livelihoods for local residents. And perhaps, Hue will gain another signature delicacy that leaves diners speechless, savoring every bite. Of course, once the prawn population continues to grow, fishing methods should be carefully planned and properly regulated, accordingly.