Part 1: The sea voyage

Through the introduction of Mr. Ho Xuan Huong - Vice Chairman of Quynh Phuong Ward People's Committee (Hoang Mai town), at exactly 5:00 a.m., I arrived at Lach Con fishing port - one of the largest fishing ports in Nghe An province...

I was sent to the boat of Mr. Nguyen Van Dien (43 years old, Quynh Phuong ward), - one of the experienced fishermen in Hoang Mai town. Mr. Dien's boat uses a three-screen net, specializing in fishing in the northern waters of the Gulf of Tonkin with 10 crew members.

“We fish in our own waters. How can they forbid us?” - fisherman Nguyen Van Dien began the conversation with me. “But will the reporter get seasick? If he does, he won’t be able to go anywhere, and no one will take him home halfway,” he continued. To get on the boat, I immediately said no, even though this was my first sea trip.

Ships line up to leave Lach Con port to go out to sea. Photo: Tien Hung

As soon as the sky was light, some crew members were already on board to prepare for the trip that was expected to last nearly half a month. Other ships had set sail a few days earlier for fear of being late for the tide. All preparations were carried out urgently. “This profession depends on the tide, if we set sail late, encountering a weak tide, we will catch less fish. If we set sail earlier, we can choose good fishing spots,” said Mr. Dien while busy checking the machinery. The other crew members also had their own tasks. Some transported food onto the ship, others loaded more than 400 blocks of ice into the hold...

Early in the afternoon, Mr. Dien started the engine and pointed the ship towards the open sea. At the port, the women stood watching. The ship was traveling at a speed of 6 nautical miles per hour. As soon as it left the mouth of the inlet, the undulating mountains near Lach Con fishing port were gradually obscured by the waves. We were heading towards the northern waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. The 150 nautical mile journey would last nearly 30 hours. At this time, the crew members took a break to save their strength for the upcoming hard days. Meanwhile, Captain Nguyen Van Dien was steering the ship while using the walkie-talkie to contact the ships in the group that had set sail earlier.

At sea, walkie-talkies are the only means of communication between ships and boats, mainly to inform each other about the fishing ground situation and to provide assistance when needed. In the mumbles between the captains coming from the walkie-talkies, Mr. Dien said that when he was young, he had not finished first grade yet and had to follow his father to sea. He "put down his pen" before he could even learn every word. "On the ship, I am the boss but also the least educated person, illiterate. But I can still go to karaoke," Mr. Dien said happily. The crew members laughed and explained that he loved to sing, and after singing for so long, he had memorized the lyrics...

Nghe An fishing boats go offshore. Photo: Tien Hung

However, Mr. Dien is an experienced fishing boat captain. In this sea area, Mr. Dien knows every wave and wind, just like he knows every nook and cranny in his fishing village of Quynh Phuong. In the beginning, when he first went to sea, he worked for hire on the boats of local fishermen. In 1998, he borrowed more than 300 million VND to build his first boat. He became the owner and captain of the boat when he was not yet 25 years old. Since then, Mr. Dien has changed boats 4 times, each one bigger than the last.

Like most of Quynh Phuong fishermen's boats, Dien's boat uses a three-screen net - a type of net used to catch bottom-dwelling seafood. This season, the boats mainly catch hatchet fish, also known as smelt. This fish is often used for export. However, other by-products, although not caught in large quantities, are expensive, and also help fishermen earn a significant income on each trip, such as horseshoe crabs, red crabs, or groupers...

Our conversation was interrupted by the captains' conversation over the radio, reporting that some boats had caught a lot of hatchet fish in the lagoon. Mr. Dien looked thoughtful: "We will try fishing here, if there are no fish, we will go out to sea later. Anyway, it is on our way." At 10 p.m., our boat arrived at the area where other boats reported a fish run. This was 50 nautical miles from the mainland. It was still too early to start fishing, so Captain Dien decided to anchor the boat, and the crew continued to sleep.

Fishermen load ice into the hold to prepare for the trip. Photo: Tien Hung

At 5am, Mr. Dien woke up the crew. Without breakfast, the 10 crew members hurriedly started their work. Some people were busy pulling the anchor and pulling it onto the ship, while others removed the planks to get the nets from the two holds. Mr. Dien's net was 10 nautical miles long, connected by nearly 500 small panels, divided into 5 parallel lines by the crew. Each line was a few hundred meters apart. The two ends of the net were connected to buoy flags marking the fishing area to warn other ships not to enter and to help the crew identify each time they pulled the net.

After more than 3 hours, the entire net was cast. Mr. Dien steered the boat into the middle of the fishing area to anchor, making it easier to observe the net lines. The first task was completed, and now the crew members took a break to brush their teeth and wash their faces. Meanwhile, chef Lin Da was busy cooking to prepare breakfast, which was also lunch. After eating, the crew members would have nearly 2 hours of lunch break and then start working on pulling the net until late at night, even on "unlucky" days they had to remove the net until the next morning and still not finished. During that time, they did not eat or drink anything.

The first meal of the offshore voyage was very lively. The fishermen's faces were filled with excitement, thinking about the "bumper" seafood nets that would be pulled up in a short while...

(To be continued)