Spending all night 'drifting net' to catch fish upstream on Lam River
(Baonghean.vn) - Every year, when it's the season for catfish, people who make a living by fishing on the Lam River stay up all night to "drift their nets" to catch fish upstream. Catfish fishing is hard work, but it also brings in a significant source of income for local people.
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| Catfish from the estuary go upstream on the Lam River in March and April. According to folk experience,fishThere are more bream upstream at night, so the fishermen often focus on fishing at night. In the afternoon on Lam River, people who catch bream in Thanh Chuong often gather their boats and fishing gear at some convenient river wharves such as Quanh wharf, Ha hill, Huu Vo temple... to prepare for a sleepless night catching bream. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| When the night falls, the songsriver, where people often choose to fish, becomes unusually bustling. On the river surface, there are sparkling flashlights, electric lights, signal lights... Ms. Nguyen Thi Suu, residing in Hamlet 4, Thanh Ha Commune, "drifting her net" on the Lam River, said: This year's catfish season, people caught less fish than last year, while the price of gasoline is high, so going to fish for catfish by motorboat is also more difficult. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Motorboats and rowboats began to weigh anchor and leave the dock to go fishing. Tools forfish huntingThe nets are 3-layer nets, 150m - 200m long, 1 - 1.2m high, carefully prepared by the people and hung carefully on the net poles at the top of the boat. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Because there are many fishing boats (8-15 boats/wharf) on the same stretch of river, people often voluntarily follow the agreement: Whoever arrives first will cast the net first, whoever arrives later must wait. When the person downstream picks up the net, the person upstream can release it, and so on, one person after another. In some places, lots must be drawn before releasing the net. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| The length of time it takes to wait for your turn to cast your net depends on the number of fishing boats at that river port. If there are few boats, your turn will come quickly, but if there are many boats, you will have to wait endlessly. Many people have to stay anchored, play cards, surf the phone, or even sleep right on the boat. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Sleeping on the riverbank when the wind is calm, there are many mosquitoes. Some people have to wear raincoats, covering themselves from head to toe to avoid mosquitoes. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Thefishing villageworking as a fisherman in Dong Van, Thanh Ha, Thanh Giang... in addition to men and boys, women and the elderly also participate in this job, there are people over 70 years old who still go on boats every night to "drift net". In the middle of the night, many women are still working alone on a boat, working hard to make a living. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| The time it takes to “cast the net” from the time the net is cast to the time it is retrieved is about 30 minutes. Each night, a fisherman can only cast a few nets, at most 5-7. The hardest part of casting the net is not only staying up all night, being exposed to wind and rain, but also encountering tree roots, bamboo trees with branches and leaves or piles of trash, making it difficult to retrieve the net, taking time to untangle the net, and sometimes even damaging the net. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| According to the people in the fishing villages, catching catfish is also a matter of luck, on a good day you can catch a few kilos, or a lot, but on an unlucky day you can catch nothing. Mr. Nguyen Viet Bao, residing in Hamlet 1, Thanh Ha Commune, said: This year's catfish season, I caught a "famous" net with 105 catfish, which I sold for 3 million VND. That night my brother also caught a net of more than 70 fish. For people who do "catfishing" like that, it's a big win. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| After catching the fish, people often release them into the boat's hold or put them in net cages hung close to the boat's side to keep them alive. The next morning, when the boat returns to the dock, these fish will be taken to the market or sold on the roadside. Large, fresh fish are often sold for a good price. The price of fish ranges from 40,000 to 100,000 VND/kg, depending on the size. Each night of "drifting the net", if lucky, a person can earn a few hundred thousand VND, sometimes millions. On "losing" nights, they lose money on gas. Photo: Huy Thu |