Yellow Strip Trevally has a long tale, very long and I though it would not be ending because this fish always interesting for everyone and it has it self- romantic.
Why I said a word of Romantic for Yellow Strip Trevally? Firstly, Russian and special on Russia girl, who is very nice, charm and famous of most romantic, I met and chat with them in Moscow bars on Oct 2005.
They had eaten Yellow Strip Trevally, which packed in 20gr and 40gr with Vodka – beer. For Saigon beer drinker , who drink with beer blended alcohol and intrepidly calm, look that image like “Hai Lua” who is best Mekong farmer ( best working and best drink ).
That is very nice photo and but still different in many details because in Vietnam, beer drinker mostly come to small beer shop, which located on the road while in Moscow, Yellow Strip Trevally from Vietnam and Thailand had been show and sold on luxury places, where man and women has quite money come and eat because it was import fish, which is quite expensive for poor people.
Tale of Yellow Strip Trevally can say that it began on 1995-1996, at that time I was on seat of University of National Ho Chi Minh City. There is 2-3 Russia people came to few of fish port at Vung Tau zone to search Yellow Strip Trevally. They made sampling by fillet, seasoned, drying, cut to nice and bring back Russia for marketing
At that time, Yellow Strip Trevally is trash fish that use for fish farming, for swine or for fertilized. So this is very cheap, some my old friend said that boat has this Yellow Strip Trevally came to the land and auction 800 VND/kg (for now is approach 5.5 cents $), if come big quantity would down 500 VND/kg. Therefore, until now in Cat Lo fish port and Phuoc Tinh fish port is pioneer place of yellow Strip Trevally
Yellow Strip Trevally has romantic but is also unhappy like “Thuy Kieu” in Nguyen Du tale. Reader of Thuy Kieu tale understood well the sadness and unhappy life that girl but for business man of dried fish, everyone on this field like and love to merchant Yellow Strip Trevally but they aslo has “ blood” experience from this fish.
Why? Yellow in Yellow Strip Trevally has gold and say by Vietnamese, which is tale of gold and at moment a tale of gold (May 2009) has to pay near 20 million VND, which big money. I means that name of this yellow strip trevally has quite value.
Merchandise of Yellow Strip Trevally has big risk, which relation to sadness from Thuy Kieu bring to her life and that is come to the bloody and bone of business man in Yellow Strip Trevally. The price is unfloat terrible. I thought in 2003 price is about 44 000 VN d/ kg of semi- Yellow Strip Trevally ( 2.8 USD /kg ), when I process this fish in the workshop 30m2 located in Seaprodex No 35 ( Road no 2 - Luy Ban Bich .St , Dist Tan Phu now ). This is my faulty of management caused unlogic of processing charte, which is small risk but this bring for me an experience of managing of material, worker, skills of processing and I built the big determined for big work, big successful in factory construction in 2007
Catching area of Yellow Strip Trevally is bellow parallel of latitude No 10, where can catch over on sea of Malaysia and Indonesia. Quality of each kind of Yellow Strip Trevally aslo different, which is not only hardly say exaction but also follow experience and skill of inspection fish to show that “Fresh material of Yellow Strip Trevally catch in Vung Tau sea (deep sea) has brighter color than Binh Dai, Ba tri non-deep sea (Ben Tre province) or Tra Cu port (Tra Vinh province). Fresh fish in Kien Giang mostly catch in Cambodia Sea and if trawler nest ship has best bright
However, I have to confirmed that technical of yellow strip trevally process in Vung Tau factories has better than Kien Giang” once. And until to 2006-2007, Kien Giang Yellow Strip Trevally has big jump of bright, moisture, fat oil, fillet skill, and number hours of seasoned and added sub- chemical like sorbitol, glutamin, sorbate.
We can compare the up-downing of yellow strip trevally with leather jacket fish for Korea not big different. Comparing item is time into warehouse keeping after done processing around 3-6 months, which is time from processing fillet in Vietnam to time of Russia gild eat with beer on bars. If keeping Yellow Strip Trevally and Leather Jacket fish more long than 6 months on cold warehouse, Leather Jacket fillet will change color of surface to dark yellow and bad smell, not fresh smell of fish. And for yellow strip trevally in cold warehouse more 5 months, qualilty of this fish will come down slowly, surface of fish will exist lines, bright yellow will disappearance and more longer will change yellow darker before.
In 1996 -2003, buyers of Yellow Strip Trevally did not Russia 100%, at that time seller in Vietnam usually sell for purchaser is Germany, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore. They bought and repack their name and export to Russia
After 2004, there are new movement of exporting directly Yellow Strip Trevally to Russia and other former of countries of CCCP like Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus, Kazatank … from Vietnam. And then huge of importer and export for dried fish establishment in Russian (from Moscow and Vladivostok) and Vietnam such Zolotoy (gold logo). This period is consider of gold time for yellow strip trevally with huge shipment .Moreover, their circle of Yellow Strip Trevally has 2 years, which is up- downing of demand and supplying. At time from mid 2007 and nowadays, May 2009, Russia Ministry of Agriculture – VPSS Bureau interfered hard solution and non-market way for seafood import from Vietnam and other countries (included in Yellow Strip Trevally).
Market for Yellow Strip Trevally is various and very large and the destination still Russia and some CCCP former countries, as say above. For an example, China buyer come to Vietnam and purchasing huge quantity from low quality to best quality , salty and sweet Yellow Strip Trevally , grade A and B mixed . Then, they re-export grade A that fish to Russia and end user and grade B and sweet Yellow Strip Trevally sold on local market on Western area such as Guangxi, Shechuan... If checking inside of business, sell that fish for China has not big profit, besides of unsafe of payment.
As my forecasting, next few years, the competition on yellow strip trevally will be more difficulty because there is joining of Indonesia. Few of Russia and Ukraine buyer also look to this countries but Indonesia has difficulty of technical of fillet and technology of drying, which is well – skill from Vietnam and Thailand
Drying skill also improves well recently years and upgrades quality of yellow Strip Trevally. This point is show on big investment from China buyer came to Rach Gia built factory and apply new technology by power, by cold air from Korea and by fan
Generally, the slow of Yellow Strip Trevally business also put in recession of the world. Mostly seafood factories like DKPT at moment have to keep running for all 2009-2010. /.
