A journey with the sea

(Baonghean) - The smell of salty sea fish wafted through the air, a strong but not unpleasant smell. Several brown-skinned women stepped out of the small temple, quickly setting up their dilapidated bicycles with baskets and pots still covered with fish scales that shone with a new sunlight. They pedaled tirelessly, heading towards the bustling fishing boats at the dock. The evocative image of the women from the coastal area of ​​Quynh suddenly made me "attracted" to follow...

Fishermen of Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu) go to sea.

The women carrying the scent of the sea "led" me through the hamlets and small villages. The coastal villages are always like that, with small winding roads and intimate roofs pressed close together like snail shells. While I was absorbed in looking at the small baskets drying fish along the road, suddenly my eyes were overwhelmed by an open space. I had left the coastal village a long time ago, before my eyes were endless boats and nets. Fishing boats from Quynh Long, Quynh Tien, Quynh Thuan... gathered here. But according to the women at the fishing wharf, Quynh Long people are the most skilled fishermen in this area. Unlike other communes and districts, Quynh Long fishermen only use large boats, fishing using the seine technique. When talking about this technique, no Quynh Long person does not mention the name Minh Lung. "Who is that?", I asked curiously. "That's the founder of Quynh Long's seine craft. Mr. Lung went all the way to Binh Thuan to learn the seine technique from fishermen in the South and brought it back here." It is from a love for the profession and a desire to conquer the ocean that one seeks to learn and master the profession!

On the offshore fishing grounds now, there are many large capacity ships built in Quynh Nghia commune (Quynh Luu), serving the entire Quynh Luu and Dien Chau fishing areas. There are also ships with the letters "BT" painted on their sides. When asked, I found out that they were old ships bought from fishermen in Binh Thuan. "A ship like this must cost a lot of money, right?", I asked the worker who was busy repainting the ship's side. "A lot! Three or four billion VND! My colleagues had to chip in to buy it! But the sea is also very generous. Usually, after a main fishing trip, excluding fuel and food costs, the 10 crew members on the boat share an average of several tens of millions of VND; and the other workers (laborers) also get nearly ten million...". I asked again, how much did he get from the last fishing trip? He scratched his head and laughed: "I'm just a worker, eating vegetarian food and dreaming at this wharf, the ship comes back to be painted and maintained." It turns out that from the profession of going out to sea, many other professions have also sprung up!

Seeing me walking around the wharf, some fishermen were having lunch on the boat anchored outside the waves, waving enthusiastically to invite me to "join the meal". I hesitated for a moment, but the strong aroma of braised fish, the smell of fresh steamed crabs evoking the flavor of the sea made me bold...Bobbing on a small basket boat from the shore to the boat, the cool autumn wind made me shiver for a moment. On the boat there were only men, reminding me of the story of whale hunting boats, where women and girls were forbidden to board the boat because it brought bad luck. When I asked casually, everyone laughed out loud: "We are not that superstitious, but before each trip out to sea, we always make offerings and burn incense carefully. That is for the non-Catholics, while the Catholics hold ceremonies at the church!..." The boat owner pointed out to the waves: "Out there is "the dog's jaw", a reef under deep water. Every boat passing through there must burn incense to avoid running aground". Having said that, the ship owner clicked his tongue: "The sea profession is said to earn millions, but it is very hard. Drifting on the waves is full of risks... And it's not like you can go just because you want to, you have to watch the moon, the tide, and avoid windy and stormy days. There are trips where you "meet" fish early and you can return in just two or three days. There are trips that take a whole week, dozens of days. Fortunately, this year there are few storms so business is good!". And the stories of people who ride the waves and wind to make a living continued like that, their feelings were as salty as the sea water, as the tears and sweat of each trip to the sea and shore...

Suddenly remembering my childhood, listening to my mother sing about the diligent seagulls going back and forth every morning and evening. In my mother's lullaby, I still heard someone calling out "muoi o" (salty salt) in the hot summer noon.... Are the old salt-making wards still there? Of course they are! - I asked and was informed by Mr. Tran Huy Vinh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Tho commune. The matchmaking profession still accounts for 50% of the industrial structure in Quynh Tho, with 60 hectares of production. Unlike fishing, the matchmaking profession does not take advantage of significant advances in science and technology because it is a heavily manual profession! However, now the salt consumption stage is more organized than before. Traders come to buy at the salt fields in large quantities, or several households together take a truck to transport salt to the highlands to sell. However, the traditional primitive handicrafts are basically maintained and preserved, but the policy is not to focus on developing and expanding. In the future, if the aquaculture model is effective, part of the salt-making area will be transferred to aquaculture, bringing greater economic benefits to the people.

... Coming to the sea, craving for experience, I kept thinking about the abundant source of life from the sea. People go fishing by boat, working hard in the salt fields, people at home also have no shortage of work to do from the sea. That is fishing logistics with the stages: trading, processing, preserving aquatic and seafood products. Accounting for a small proportion of the industry (about 5-10% in communes with marine occupations), but fishing logistics is increasingly developing, creating stable jobs for the labor force, mainly women. This could even be the "spearhead of industrialization" of marine industries, due to the ability to apply technical technology as well as the large consumption market. Not only limited to the domestic market, Nghe An's processed aquatic and seafood products are also exported to Taiwan, Laos... But perhaps it would be much better if we paid this sector the proper attention with its potential. Because, even in Nghi Tan ward (Cua Lo town), where there are 62 storage warehouses and 49 freezing facilities, most of them are still scattered in residential areas, spontaneous. Thus, the production scale is both fragmented and small, causing difficulties in management and sustainable development, and causing loss of landscape and environmental pollution. However, as Mr. Le Minh Thang, Secretary of Nghi Tan ward Party Committee said, the project to re-plan the residential area with a scale of 20 hectares, when implemented, will open up a new vision for fisheries development. Of which, 5 - 6 hectares will be allocated for concentrated planning of cold storages, production and processing facilities, and fishing wharves.

Also in the field of aquatic and seafood processing is the fish sauce processing industry, the most famous of which is Van Phan fish sauce in Dien Ngoc (Dien Chau). I have heard about it for a long time, but only now have I seen with my own eyes and tasted with my own mouth the pure fish sauce that is the color of cockroach wings, clear and thick as honey. Opening the "hat" that protects the fish sauce from the wind and rain, Mrs. Tran Thi Chuyen (Dong Lam hamlet, Dien Ngoc) gently stirs the fish fat layer to separate, revealing the shiny, fragrant and richly flavored water of the sea. Then, she pointed to the fish sauce right next to her and smiled: "Try smelling the other side, I guarantee the difference is like heaven and earth. This side is fish sauce that has been stored for more than a year, the other side is only 10 months old. Only a few months apart, but the ripe fish sauce has a fragrant smell, the unripe fish sauce only has a fishy smell. Going through all the steps and processes is very long and complicated! This fish sauce is fish sauce essence, meaning it only has fish and salt, without any other additives or spices. Nowadays, most people like pre-mixed fish sauce, which is sweet and tasty. But coastal people absolutely only use fish sauce essence. As for those who love blood pudding, they also have to rely on this fish sauce essence, because normal mixed fish sauce is guaranteed to never solidify!

Ms. Tran Thi Chuyen in Dong Lam hamlet, Dien Ngoc commune (Dien Chau) introduces the fish sauce making process to reporters.

I tasted it, and it was indeed richer than the bottled fish sauce that is very popular on the market today. When asked, I learned that Mrs. Chuyen's fish sauce is simply a home-made fish sauce without any name or brand. What about Van Phan fish sauce? "That is fish sauce from Dien Chau Seafood Joint Stock Company. Many households now make chuop and then sell it to the company to "pull" (a processing step) to get fish sauce. My family now makes less, we "pull" it ourselves to sell gradually throughout the year." Meeting Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Vice Chairman of Dien Ngoc Commune People's Committee, he said that the commune has 78 households processing fish sauce, but they are not concentrated but scattered throughout the commune. This is also a difficulty for organizing craft cooperatives, building brands, and consuming products. Therefore, the locality has a policy of encouraging people to import chuop for Dien Chau Seafood Joint Stock Company, both saving time to invest in other industries and contributing to building the Van Phan fish sauce brand. Knowing that it is difficult to reserve a place for traditional crafts nowadays, one cannot help but regret the aftertaste of the very "real" and rich fish sauce "pulled" from the hands of the people of Dien Ngoc.

Humans do not stop at passively exploiting the sea. It is like the history lesson about the early days of mankind, which only knew how to hunt and gather, that is, depend on the supply of nature. Then one day, humans began to raise livestock, cultivate, and take the initiative in their own livelihood. For the sea, that is when we are not only satisfied with the catch of fish from the deep, unpredictable seabed. That is when shrimp and fish grow up, multiplying from the hands and sweat of humans. There are people who raise aquatic products far away from Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh... who once told me that in Quynh Tho commune (Quynh Luu) there is a famous clam breeding farm in the North Central region of Mr. Thai Ba Khang. That if I want to see clams spawn, I should come here around February to May. They also told me many, many things.

But perhaps what they don't know is that in Quynh Tho there is not only one Mr. Thai Ba Khang, but this area is specialized in aquaculture, with two main types: clams and shrimp. Of which, the coastal tidal flat area for clam farming is 20 hectares, the shrimp farming area is 10 hectares. In the near future, there will be an additional planning of 26 hectares for aquaculture. I stood hesitantly in front of the coastal tidal flats. At this time of high tide, I could only see the vast waves. The stakes, the rows of wires dividing the plots and plots for clam farming reminded me of a giant game of "o an quan". The "quan" here is the watchtower built precariously high in the middle of the waves, and the "quan" is the layer upon layer of clams diving under the waves and sand. Since when did we become the ones running the game of creation? That is the miracle from the hands of human labor.

Wandering along the sea, blending into the vibrant life of the sea, I find it difficult to stop, difficult to stop that “travel” when each place I come to, each place I go gives me new and interesting emotions… I drove slowly on the road hugging the entire coastline. The afternoon fell, casting a red glow on the water. The casuarina forests were like a subtle curtain, making the sea here retain a very wild look. I kept walking, feeling like I was walking on the path of time when the scenery on both sides of the road was constantly changing. It was still the coastline and the sandbank, but the trees were getting sparser, houses were starting to spring up, the sounds of vehicles and people were getting clearer… And here, Cua Lo Seaport was bustling with ships. Crane arms lifted heavy containers, neatly stacked on the beach.

I went through the resorts, restaurants, hotels bustling into the picture of the coastal tourism city. Oh yes, Nghe An's sea not only brings us specialties of shrimp, fish, vast salt fields,.., but the sea also brings a gift of nature, captivating people with the sunshine and wind of the central coastal region of Nghe An... Yes, the 82 km of coastline stretching from Quynh Luu to Cua Hoi is a precious gift that nature has bestowed on the land and people of Nghe An. Beautiful beaches such as Cua Hoi, Cua Lo, Nghi Thiet, Bai Lu, Dien Thanh, Quynh Phuong, Quynh Bang,... associated with many historical - cultural relics, the spiritual life of the coastal area is a potential tourism resource that not every locality has... That resource has been and is being exploited step by step, gradually affirming its position on the "sea tourism map" of Vietnam.

I looked at Mat Island, Ngu Island, and Lan Chau Island silently in the slow sunset, feeling strangely peaceful. Suddenly, I felt a surge of love for the vast homeland sea that has been and is being "opened" and developed by human intelligence, bringing so many values ​​to life!

Thuc Anh