(Baonghean.vn)- In mid-May, the East Sea was in turmoil when China unilaterally imposed an unreasonable fishing ban in the East Sea, but Nghe An fishermen still bravely stuck to the sea.
Reporters of Nghe An Newspaper had a journey with fishermen on their fathers' traditional fishing grounds to see the enthusiastic working atmosphere of the people as well as their determination to protect the sovereignty of the sea and islands and affirmed that the fishing ban has no value for the children of the fishing village.
» Nghe An fishermen: 'If I don't go to sea for a day, I feel anxious'
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| In mid-May, hundreds of fishing boats of fishermen in Quynh Phuong ward (Hoang Mai town) left Lach Con port and headed north to the Gulf of Tonkin to continue their sea trips. This has been a traditional fishing area for Nghe An fishermen for many years, bordering China's waters. Photo: Tien Hung |
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| Here, fishermen mainly use three-screen nets - a type of net used to catch fish that live near the seabed. After a journey of more than 150 nautical miles, a fishermen's working day usually begins at 5am. Photo: Tien Hung |
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| Normally, the net is about 10 nautical miles long, divided into 5 lines to be released parallel to each other, intersecting the water current. At both ends of the net lines are connected with buoy flags to mark the fishing area of each ship as well as to help identify each time the net is to be collected. Photo: Tien Hung. |
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| The netting work usually lasts more than 3 hours. At around 11am, when the water has calmed down, the crew begins their main job of collecting the net. Currently, this is mainly done by winch instead of pulling by hand as before. However, it usually takes at least more than 8 hours for the crew to collect 10 nautical miles of net. Photo: Tien Hung |
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| This season, the main fish species is hatchetfish, also known as grouse. "This fishing must be based on experience. You have to calculate the location where there are many fish and pull the net at the right time to be effective," said captain Nguyen Van Dien (44 years old). Photo: Tien Hung |
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| Each fishing boat usually has about 10 crew members. One person is in charge of pulling the winch, another person is in charge of pulling the net onto the boat, then the remaining group will be responsible for removing the fish, putting the net neatly into the hold to prepare for the next day of fishing. Photo: Tien Hung. |
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| According to fishermen, crabs are the most labor-intensive seafood to remove. Each crab usually damages a section of the net. Photo: Tien Hung. |
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| For seafood such as red crabs, horseshoe crabs, groupers... traders in Quang Ninh will drive boats to the place to buy. Each kilogram of red crabs sold at sea costs 500,000 VND, while each pair of horseshoe crabs usually costs over 400,000 VND. After the first two days of fishing, Nguyen Van Dien's fishing boat sold nearly 15 million VND worth of crabs and horseshoe crabs. Photo: Tien Hung. |
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| Many days, the work of pulling the net lasts until 3am whenever the net catches a lot of fish or gets entangled in oyster shells, tangles, etc. After that, the fishermen can only rest for more than 1 hour before continuing the work of the new day starting at 5am. According to the fishermen, each sea trip lasts more than 10 days, earning about 300 million VND. After deducting expenses, each crew member gets about 10 million VND. Photo: Tien Hung. |
Tien Hung
