Jellyfish season in Ha Tinh

Calm eddies in Cua Sot, the central province's Loc Ha District create favorable conditions for fishermen to catch jellyfish at this time of year. Suntanned fishermen row their boats to less than one kilometer from shore, bringing nets 200 meters in length to scoop up jellyfish.

A bag of jellyfish requires two people to handle. Jellyfish season in Cua Sot starts from January to April.

Jellyfish that thrive near the coast have rough bodies with tiny dark spots and are popular for their nutritional value.

Some use baskets to scoop up floating jellyfish. A fresh and live jellyfish weighs from five to 50 kilograms, sometimes reaching 60 to 70 kilograms.
Nguyen Thanh Do, 55, described his typical day: "I start work from 6:00 a.m, catch three batches and take a rest at noon. On average, we can catch 500 kilograms and if lucky, 700 kilograms. On stormy days, we might come back empty handed."

It takes about 10 minutes to gut a 15 kilogram jellyfish.

Gutted jellyfish are rinsed to remove all dirt at sea.

At 4:00 p.m, wholesalers and fishmongers gather to collect jellyfish. A freshly caught 20 kilogram jellyfish is priced at around VND30,000 to VND40,000 ($1.3-1.7).

Many households in Son Bang Village, Thach Kim Commune, Loc Ha District wash, gut and cut jellyfish into strips around 20 centimeters long and 10 centimeters wide.
A ton of jellyfish gets reduced to 500 to 600 kilograms prior to hitting the pot.

Pieces of jellyfish meat are kept in an iced box of salt water.

To make a green jellyfish salad, locals boil some mountain herbs to marinate the meat.

After two hours, the result is a kind of slightly green transparent meat. The final product is divided into two types: body (VND30,000 a kilogram) and tentacles (VND50,000).
Nguyen Van Chau in Son Bang Village revealed on a good day, he could earn VND1.5 million ($65) from selling jellyfish.

Locals enjoy jellyfish with green perilla leaves, thinly sliced green banana, roasted peanuts and finally some shrimp paste, chili pepper and lime juice.