Residential area in Nghi Tan fishing port

(Baonghean) -The boat docked before dawn, and the children at Nghi Tan Fishing Port, Cua Lo town, started a new day by helping their parents pull in nets and move fish ashore.

We arrived at Nghi Tan fishing port right when the fishing boats were returning. From inside the house, we heard the sound of the boat engine, no one greeted each other, a group of sleepy children rushed out. Then without waiting for anyone to direct them, each one sat down to work. Some girls helped bring the tools ashore, some quickly cleaned up. The younger ones sat by the boat, carefully removing each crab and shrimp still clinging to the net. Occasionally, laughter and voices would rise up, making Nghi Tan fishing port noisy and bustling even in the early morning.

This scene has become familiar to the people of Nghi Tan in recent years, especially during the summer. At that time, instead of having a summer vacation, the children of fishermen go fishing with their parents on boats. Children at Nghi Tan fishing port eat here, sleep here, and work here every day, but most of them are children from other districts. Because they all come from far away, the lives of the children here are very makeshift. Usually, families borrow land from local households and build a temporary thatched house right next to it. There are houses less than 20 square meters wide but have up to twelve or thirteen people crowded together. For families that cannot find land to build a tent, the whole family lives on a boat, and all activities revolve around that boat. Usually, the boats only go fishing during the day, or leave at night and return early in the morning, so the catch is not worth much. To reduce labor costs, most of the work that does not require heavy labor is done by children, such as carrying, picking fish, drying fish, or simply sorting fish and shrimp for their parents to sell to wholesalers.

Children's daily work at Nghi Tan fishing port.

According to statistics, Nghi Tan fishing port has over 100 boats entering and leaving the port every day. However, very few of them are boats of Cua Lo residents, but mainly boats of temporary residents from poor rural areas in coastal communes of Quynh Luu district. The fishermen who come here are mostly people with little capital, do not have the conditions to build large boats to go offshore, so they choose Cua Lo to go fishing. Their products are therefore very simple, mainly shrimp, crabs and crabs caught during the day. The goods are often imported to households right next to the fishing port. That is also the reason why these owners often let households build houses right in their family's yard.

Talking about these "resident" households, Mr. Hoang Minh Son - Chairman of Nghi Tan Ward People's Committee could not help but worry because the current management is not easy: We have counted about more than 50 boats of fishermen from other places coming to do business in Cua Lo creek, but how many people are working there cannot be managed. Hundreds of people immigrating at the same time, in addition to the security and order issue, the environmental pollution issue is also very serious.

It is worth mentioning that very few children who follow their parents fishing at Cua Lo fishing port go to school. Since these children came to live here, the situation of children playing games, singing karaoke and picking up bad habits has increased day by day. Although the Nghi Tan ward authorities know about it, they are powerless because management requires coordination from many sides...

My Ha