Cua Hoi fishing port, "rear base" of offshore fishing

(Baonghean)Quang Ngai fishermen are famous for their “heroic” teams that have sailed out to sea, clinging to the sea to affirm Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago for centuries. Today, their descendants continue their ancestors’ tradition, conquering fishing grounds in the vast seas and skies of the Fatherland. We had the opportunity to meet them on a sunny day in late summer at Cua Hoi fishing port.

Story of clinging to the sea…

Among the fishing boats docking at Cua Hoi port this time, we met many “sea wolves” from Quang Ngai. For them, their whole lives have been associated with the salty sea, with trips across the East Sea. Captain Nguyen Mo Duc (52 years old), strong and dark-skinned by the sun and wind of the sea, was mending his nets with the crew after a half-month trip at sea; during that voyage, the QNg 92451, 480 horsepower ship and 15 fishermen continuously moved between fishing grounds in Bach Long Vy Island, Co To... to Da Nang until the boat was full of fish before returning to the mainland.

Captain Nguyen Mo Duc and the 14 crew members on board are all from Quang Ngai province. Having gone to sea with his father since he was 14, the sea has been his “whole life” ever since. He said: “Nowadays, fishermen have the means to invest in large ships with strong engines, capable of reaching far-flung fishing grounds and fishing for long periods of time, so the chance of “winning” each trip is more assured than before.”

Captain Duc's ship was built 4 years ago at a cost of nearly 3 billion VND. It has accompanied him on many trips out to sea, but for this "sea wolf", the time fishing in the Hoang Sa fishing ground is still the most profound and memorable. "Like many other Quang Ngai fishermen, our traditional fishing ground is the Hoang Sa fishing ground. The fish in Hoang Sa are abundant and rich. Going there to fish is guaranteed to win. But in recent years, the situation there has been too "tense" so we have had to limit our access more than before," Mr. Duc said sadly.

Captain Tran Van Thoi (51 years old) is also from Tu Nghia, Quang Ngai. Mr. Thoi is the captain of two fishing boats QNg 92338 and QNg 92339 with dozens of crew members. This trip was considered a failure. Because after only 7 days at sea, they had to return due to damage to the boat. The boat had just arrived at Cua Hoi port for 2 days and had just been repaired. The crew took the opportunity to rest and mend the old nets to prepare to go out to sea. Captain Thoi also followed his father to sea when he was 8 years old. Talking to us, he joked: "My family is an ocean family. For several generations, we have been attached to each other and lived off the sea."

He has spent his whole life at sea, fishing in almost all fishing grounds, but since the early 1990s, Mr. Thoi's fishing boat has been "destined" to fish in the Gulf of Tonkin. He said: "Each trip to sea lasts for months. Every time the hold is full of fish, he calls the ships on shore to bring food, fuel and fuel to sell, in exchange they buy his fish and bring it to shore. On average, each trip makes a profit of hundreds of millions of dong; at least, sixty or seventy million dong. But there are also trips to sea that leave empty-handed like the last one."

The crew members on Mr. Thoi's ship come from many hometowns: Thanh Hoa, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh. The life of a fisherman is attached to the sea, the dangers they encounter on a daily basis are familiar. But for fishermen, missing their wives, children, and family during the days at sea is truly a low point in their livelihood. Mr. Nguyen Danh, a crew member from Quang Ngai confided: "Fishing at sea only requires a small mistake to endanger their lives. Something as simple as pulling a net weighing an average of 10 tons of fish, if the pulley breaks, it is extremely dangerous. Not to mention the times when we encounter storms, big waves, and strong winds. But we are used to it, accepting everything, the only thing is missing our wives and children. Sometimes we can only see our families during Tet all year round." Before this sea trip, Danh's wife in Quang Ngai had just given birth a few days ago. Looking at the way he happily talks about his newborn son, one can understand the anxiety of a father who has to spend the whole year at sea before returning home.

"Peaceful port, boats moored"

That was the answer of many fishermen from other provinces at Cua Hoi fishing port when we asked: Why do you dock here when there are many other fishing ports throughout the North Central coastal provinces? At Cua Hoi fishing port that day, there were nearly 40 offshore fishing boats packed together waiting to buy supplies to go out to sea.

Captain Duc shared: “Our ships often dock at Cua Hoi fishing port because the water flow here is very favorable for ships to enter, the fishing logistics services are relatively adequate and importantly, the products we work hard to make are purchased immediately upon docking. Quang Ngai brothers who fish in fishing grounds from Quang Binh and further out all stop here when coming ashore.”



Fishermen mend their nets and prepare to go out to sea.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tho - Deputy Director of Nghe An Fishing Port Management Board said: “Cua Hoi fishing port is a regular entry and exit point for ships from 13 provinces from Nam Dinh to Binh Thuan. Implementing the policy of socializing the fishing industry, the fishing logistics services at Cua Hoi port meet the needs of fishermen relatively fully. This is also the main reason why Cua Hoi port has become a "common home" for many fishermen in our country. In the fishing port area, there is a whole boarding house for families of Quang Ngai fishermen to rent. They stay here to wait for their husbands and children to return after each trip. We only collect 250,000 VND/room/month in tax and also support clean water. All of this is to contribute to creating conditions for fishermen to feel secure when going out to sea to both do business and protect the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland. However, the bridge and port still cannot meet the need for long-term anchorage due to the short length of the wharf...”.

I hope that one day soon, Cua Hoi fishing port will be upgraded so that this place will always be a peaceful anchorage for the fishermen of the sea. When we said goodbye to Cua Hoi fishing port, Captain Thoi's ship was preparing for a new voyage. He was busy preparing offerings to pray for peace before the trip to conquer the sea.

Thanh Duy