One month ahead of the lunar New Year Festival or Tet, fishing villages in Ca Mau are busy preparing their special product for Tet market: dried siamese gourami or Trichogaster pectoralis [Cá khô bổi U Minh, hay Khô cá sặc rằn]. .
Used to be found in river, siamese gourami was first bred by farmers in Ca Mau in 2010.
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Siamese gourami is mainly bred in Tran Van Thoi district.
In 2011, Ca Mau province’s “U Minh dried siamese gourami” brand was recognized by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam and is currently owned by Tran Van Thoi district’s Farmers’ Association.
The recognition has strongly promoted Ca Mau’s dried siamese gourami brand.
In Khanh Hung commune and Tran Van Thoi town (Tran Van Thoi district), dried Siamese gourami is the local households’ major source of incomes.
The local people make dried Siamese gourami for sale all year round.
Supplies get increased as Tet approaches and this is also the local people’s main harvest.
This trade has generated jobs for many local women.
Prices of dried Siamese gourami vary between VND150,000 and VND300,000 (US$7- US$15) per kilo, depending on different species.
The prices are said to get higher in the last months of the lunar year.
Ca Mau people are expected to earn high profits from making dried Siamese gourami this year to enjoy happier Tet celebrations.VOV
CVD 