"Going to the beach" at the beginning of the year

(Baonghean) - After the Lunar New Year holidays, fishermen in Phu Loi block, Quynh Di ward, Hoang Mai town happily went to Lach Con wharf to pray for fish, hoping for a new year of favorable weather and wind for the fishing season. After the praying for fish ceremony, fishermen began their first "sea trips" of the year with the hope of a full catch of fish.

Fishermen at Lach Con wharf prepare supplies for the first trip of the year.

For generations, people in Phu Loi Ward have been involved in seafood exploitation and processing. In addition to fresh seafood, fishermen here also catch anchovies, herrings, etc. Using the experience and traditional secrets of Phu Loi people, they create a famous, delicious and rich fish sauce product with its own characteristics under the Quynh Di fish sauce brand.

On the 5th day of Tet, the weather was warm and sunny, the sky was blue and the sea was calm. We arrived at Lach Con wharf, the atmosphere here had begun to bustle again, the fishermen were coming and going busily. Everyone was happy and enthusiastic, after the peaceful and warm Tet holidays. On each large-capacity boat, fishermen adjusted the national flag, prepared fishing gear... prepared the necessities for a long trip at sea, and the indispensable thing was that people prepared the first fishing ceremony of the year, so that on the 6th day they could set out on their first trip. Fishermen said that after Tet, boat owners choose even days to "go to sea". For small boats, fishing close to shore, they can "go to sea" on the 4th day of Tet, for large boats with big engines, fishing far from shore, they usually choose the 6th, 8th, or 10th.

Before setting out on the first trip of the year, fishermen all perform a traditional fishing ceremony. The fishing ceremony of fishermen here does not involve elaborate rituals like many other places, but is simple and economical. The boat owner prepares a fruit tray, a boiled chicken (or boiled pork) placed on a tray of sticky rice, and prays in Nom script. A fisherman confided: For generations, our fishermen have performed such a simple fishing ceremony, yet every year we catch a lot of fish, and our boats go and return safely. From fishing in the open sea to fishing far offshore, every boat wins big, and the fishermen's lives have gradually improved. These days, the weather is warm and sunny, the sea is calm, very favorable for the first "sea voyage" of the year. After the fishing ceremony, we start the engine, drive the boat around the estuary, and officially set out to sea tomorrow morning to catch fish.

Fishermen in Phu Loi block repair their fishing gear, preparing for the first "sea trip" of the year.

While eagerly adjusting the lighting system on the boat with license plate NA94236TS, fisherman Tran Van Hai proudly said: “Our boat has a capacity of 400CV, bought 3 years ago, for more than 3 billion VND, specializing in offshore fishing with nets. Last year, it was not until the 28th of Tet that our boat returned to the creek, with more than 5 tons of fish, sold out right there at the creek, after deducting expenses, each crew member still received nearly 2 million VND to cover the Tet holiday for their family. Each trip like that, it takes 5 days to return, with about 5 tons of fish, which means that each year our boat catches about 300 tons of seafood, earning billions of VND. Tomorrow is the 6th of Tet, fishermen here consider it a good day, so we prepare everything carefully for the first trip of the year to have good luck, catching a lot of shrimp and fish”.

At the beginning of the year, seafood is caught in abundance, usually orange bream, anchovy, and grouper. These types of fish are used to make delicious fish sauce. Therefore, the first fishing trips of the year are purchased by villagers to serve the seafood processing village. Phu Loi seafood processing village currently has thousands of fish sauce tanks, each tank ferments a batch of 500 kg to 1 ton of fish, so each year this village uses thousands of tons of fish to process fish sauce, to produce over 2 million liters of special fish sauce, sold on the market.

Talking about the fishing and seafood processing profession here, Mr. Hoang Van Cuong, the owner of a fish sauce processing facility in Phu Loi block, said: Now he is the owner of the largest fish sauce processing facility in the village, but 10 years ago he himself was a boat owner specializing in offshore fishing. With offshore fishing, although it is hard, the advantage is that there is no need to worry about the market. For the fish sauce processing profession, although it is not as hard as offshore fishing, it requires the product quality to always be guaranteed, while competing for the consumer market. Nowadays, there are many fish sauce products on the market, consumers have the right to choose, so in order for Phu Loi fish sauce products to stand firm in the market, it requires the workers to be sensitive and loyal to customers.

In the bustling crowd, we met old fisherman Tran Van Dang, carrying logistical items from his house to the boat. When asked, we learned that he was the Deputy Manager of Phu Loi Seafood Processing Village. In the few minutes we met, he chatted: It's fun, every year, after Tet, we gather at the wharf, get on the boat to pray for good fishing at the beginning of the year. The fishermen's praying for good fishing here is simple, with a tray of fruit, sticky rice and chicken, placed on the boat, and praying in Nom script. Usually, fishermen choose even-numbered days at the beginning of the year to go out to sea to get good luck. Although simple, it is thoughtful, because this is a custom left by our ancestors, indispensable, more or less required.

He is proud that he was born in 1951, in a land with a traditional profession of catching and processing seafood, so he understands this profession. He and his wife have 2 sons, who also follow the profession of catching seafood at sea like their father. The profession of fishing at sea has been inherited by his family from generation to generation. Previously, his father also worked at sea and later, his 6 brothers all built their own boats to go fishing at sea to follow their father's career. As for him, he grew up and joined the army. In 1977, after leaving the army, he also went fishing on the boat until 2001, when he was old and weak, he retired and stayed home to make fish sauce. Having saved a little capital, he invested in his 2 sons to buy big boats to go fishing at sea. Currently, his two sons, Tran Van Trang (born in 1980), is the captain of a 400CV fishing boat and his second son, Tran Van Nghiem (born in 1982), is a crew member. As a father, although he no longer has the strength to go out to sea, with his responsibility, every year he prepares enough offerings to hold a fishing ceremony for his children, praying for a new year of favorable weather, a safe trip to sea, and a good catch of shrimp and fish.

Lach Con Gate is getting more and more crowded, each boat is decorated with national flags, banners, and slogans. Joining the crowd, we feel the bustling, urgent atmosphere of the fishermen here. Organizing the fishing ceremony at the beginning of the year is to express the wishes and aspirations of fishermen for the seafood exploitation profession at sea. They pray for a lucky new year, calm seas, favorable weather to catch a lot of fish and shrimp and return safely. This is an activity imbued with the spiritual tradition of local fishermen, helping them feel secure when going out to sea. After the fishing ceremony is finished, the fishing boats will take turns going out to sea for the first trip of the year.

Phu Loi fishing village currently has nearly 40 fishing boats, of which more than half are boats using engines with a capacity of over 300CV, specializing in catching seafood offshore, using seine nets, purse seines, squid fishing... the rest are fishing close to shore. Mr. Dang calculated that each large boat, fishing offshore, after each 5-6 day trip, catches about 5 tons of fish, worth about 30 million VND, minus the cost of fuel, food... the profit is about 50%. Thus, after each year, fishermen of Phu Loi ward and village catch about 6 thousand tons of seafood offshore, not to mention the team fishing close to shore, earning tens of billions of VND. With such a large amount of seafood, part of it supplies fish for the traditional fish sauce production village, the rest supplies food to the market. Phu Loi village is therefore not only attached to and preserving the seafood exploitation and processing profession but also increasingly developing with a fleet of large boats and engines, catching more seafood, and the fishermen's lives are constantly changing. Before leaving Lach Con wharf, a fisherman told us: "In the new sea season, we will unite and support each other to do business at sea with many advantages, with the hope that the new year will bring new victories. Both doing business and contributing to protecting the sacred sea and islands of the Fatherland".

X.Hoang - V.Dang