Old fishermen with a heavy heart for the sea

(Baonghean.vn) - Working on these giant ships are not only young, healthy men but also old fishermen over 60 years old who are still devoted to their seafaring career; many families have 3-4 generations continuing each other's profession.

We were fortunate to meet fisherman Nguyen Khac Thin (64 years old) in Phu Lien village, Quynh Long commune when his boat was preparing to leave port to go fishing. With many years of experience at sea, he is considered a conductor leading fishermen to exploit seafood.

As a meticulous person at work, he and the fishermen are urgently repairing fishing gear, refueling to go out to sea tomorrow with the seine boat numbered NA 98666 with a capacity of 830 CV.

Although he is 64 years old, fisherman Nguyen Khac Thin in Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu) is still enthusiastic about the sea. Every time he goes out to sea, he buys a new national flag to hang on his boat. Photo: Viet Hung

It was sunny, everyone took a break, Mr. Thin had time to sit down and share about his years at sea. With more than 40 years at sea, he understands better than anyone else about fishing, fishing grounds and seasonal characteristics. Due to his age and extensive experience, every time they go out to sea to fish, the fishermen on the boat listen to his instructions obediently.

“The fishermen on the boat are all from the younger generation, so they don’t have much experience at sea, so I have to give them more guidance. Although I am old, I am blessed with good health, so I will continue my career as long as I can; both earning extra income and training the younger generation to go out to sea,” Mr. Thin shared.

In addition to directly exploiting seafood, Mr. Thin is also an experienced captain. Photo: Viet Hung

Speaking of the past, Mr. Thin's father and grandfather were also people who were attached to the sea for many years. They used to participate in the transportation of food from Hai Phong to Nghe An, from Hoang Mai to Dien Chau, Ha Tinh during the resistance war against the US to save the country. Currently, his youngest son has also passed on the profession to him and is participating in fishing on the ND 67 ship.

Not only Mr. Nguyen Khac Thin, currently in the commune there are many elderly fishermen still participating in seafood fishing. Despite their old age, they are still passionate about the sea, consider the sea as their home, and miss it so much if they don't go to the sea for a day.

Many fishermen of high age and experience are still enthusiastically working at sea. Photo by Viet Hung

Fisherman Nguyen Ba Phuong (57 years old) shared: Knowing that going to sea requires endurance, not getting sick, being able to stay up all night and work at high intensity, but thinking about the results makes me forget all the hardships; only when I feel weak do I allow myself to rest.

With a lot of experience, having gone through 2 ships to now own a wooden hull ship built together worth 6 billion VND, Mr. Phuong feels satisfied with his efforts over the past 30 years. Currently, in addition to directly exploiting offshore, Mr. Phuong takes advantage of his time to pass on his profession to his son to continue his father's profession in the future.

Fishermen unite to participate in fishing.Photo by Viet Hung

Mr. Vu Ngoc Chat - Chairman of Quynh Long Commune Fisheries Association said that the whole commune has 170 vessels, of which 115 are for offshore fishing. With more than 2,000 workers participating in seafood exploitation, the working age from 50 to 60 and above accounts for 25%; the rest are young and middle-aged people. Thanks to the offshore fishing fleet, led by experienced and elderly fishermen, in the first 4 months of the year, the total seafood output of the whole commune reached about 9,500 tons, an increase of 15% compared to last year.

Quynh Luu is a district with strengths in seafood exploitation, with 1,275 vessels concentrated in the coastal communes of Quynh Long, Quynh Nghia, Tien Thuy, Son Hai... the average exploitation output reaches from 49,000 tons - 50,000 tons, revenue of hundreds of billions of VND/year. To achieve the above results, many generations of fishermen have persevered in the sea, gradually converting and building large ships with large engines to exploit offshore. In particular, the elderly fishermen are still enthusiastic about the sea profession, they both exploit seafood and lead the younger generation to continue the profession of their ancestors. Currently, there are hundreds of families with 2-3 generations of fathers passing down the profession of seafood exploitation to their children. Thereby, contributing to increasing output and revenue, while protecting the sacred sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

Viet Hung