Love the sea so the sea treats

(Baonghean) - I set foot on Lach Con fishing port of Quynh Phuong land on a December morning. The last days of the year do not seem to affect much the life of the people in the estuary who have been attached to the sea for hundreds of years.

I tried to squeeze my feet and squeeze through the sweaty backs to see with my own eyes the tuna, grouper, and sardines that had just been brought ashore by fishermen after a long fishing trip. In the narrow space at the fishing port, it was hard to determine who was the boat owner and who was the trader. Every time the tuna weighing a hundred kilograms was pushed down the slide from the deck, everyone would rush to buy it.

A corner of Lach Con fishing port in Quynh Phuong ward (Hoang Mai town).

Mr. Dau Nhu Danh - a fisheries extension officer of Quynh Phuong ward (Hoang Mai town) leaned close to my ear and said: "The seafood caught is sold out as soon as it arrives, there is not enough to sell". However, before coming here, I had thought that after the environmental incident in the central coastal region in the first half of 2016, exploitation and fishing activities as well as the lives of fishermen have gradually decreased.

Just leaving Lach Con, Mr. Dau Nhu Danh added: “It is not enough to say that the Formosa incident did not affect fishermen, but it only lasted for a short time. Moreover, the fishing grounds of Quynh Phuong people are beyond the impact of the incident.” Instead of explaining further to the guests, Mr. Danh took me to visit the family of Mr. Hoang Van Luan - who is considered a “sea wolf” in Hong Thai block, Quynh Phuong ward.

He is a man in his sixties, with a large, strong body, a deep voice and every gesture exudes experience of the sea. Mr. Luan was born in 1957, and is one of the few people still going to sea at the age of 60 in this countryside. He said that he has been going to sea since he was 13 years old, and has experienced every seafaring profession. From trawling, squid fishing, mullet fishing, and mullet fishing to seining and trawling; from fishing at the mouth of the creek, near the shore to going offshore...

This man seems to have all the characteristics of a fisherman in the sea: hardship, experience of risk, failure and simple happiness after hardships and storms. As proof of this, Mr. Luan recounts a terrifying memory from nearly 33 years ago.

Mr. Hoang Cong Luan (left) of Hong Thai block introduces fishing with sparse gill nets.

It was the fishing season at the end of 1984, Mr. Hoang Van Luan and his boat mate Nguyen Van Tich sailed a bamboo boat on the open sea. After nearly a day, they caught about 50 kg of spotted fish and herring and were on their way to shore. When they were 7 nautical miles from the mainland, a storm suddenly arose. A whirlwind came, the mast was broken like a blade of grass, the whole boat was lifted into the air, and 2 people were thrown into the sea. In the roar of the fierce waves, they had no way to get close to each other.

This was also the fateful trip that made Mr. Tich lie forever in the deep sea. Luckier than his friend, Mr. Luan clung to the mast and drifted for 3 days and 2 nights before being rescued in the Cua Sot sea (in Thach Ha district - Ha Tinh). Mr. Luan was saved by Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen Van Hau (also known as Hau Ham), fishermen in Thach Ha district. Later, Mr. Luan became the adopted son of that affectionate fishing family.

Returning from the dead, it was thought that Mr. Luan would stop working at sea. But no, he decided to return to the profession as a way to remember his friend and repay life. To do that, Mr. Luan transformed many types of fishing over the years. It was not until after 2000 when the small-net trawling fishing began to be introduced to Quynh Phuong that Mr. Luan was one of the first to apply this fishing model. From the fishing boat, he borrowed money to build a new trawling boat with a capacity of 380 CV, and bought 2 new nets worth 1.4 billion VND.

Women from Hong Thai and Quynh Phuong blocks weave and mend fishing nets.

The total value of the fishing equipment is over 2 billion VND. The boat has 15 workers. “Unlike the common fishing methods of Nghe An fishermen, the open-net trawling only catches the bottom and is about 100 nautical miles from shore. The seafood caught is also a specialty, such as tuna, grouper, etc.” - Mr. Hoang Van Luan shared. This is exactly what Mr. Dau Nhu Danh wanted to explain to me right from the start, that Quynh Phuong seafood is beyond the impact of the Formosa incident.

While Mr. Dau Nhu Danh seemed quite satisfied with the story of the “old sea wolf”, Mr. Hoang Van Luan led me to his family’s large yard, where more than 400 nets were stacked on top of each other. He said: “Each loose-netted net is 7.5 - 9 nautical miles long, equivalent to 13.5 - 16.6km, and 2m high. Loose-netted netting is a form of bottom fishing with the support of fish detectors equipped on each boat. Unlike purse seining, which requires bright lights to attract fish, and can only be exploited on dark days after the lunar cycle, loose-netted netting follows the ocean currents.”

Mr. Danh added: If anyone learns about the tidal calendar, they will know about the monthly "birth tide". Accordingly, except for February and August, which have 3 birth tides (new water), the remaining 10 months, each month has 2 birth tides 14 days apart. Based on the birth tide calendar, fishermen cast their nets according to the currents at sea. Usually, for each birth tide, fishermen will have 4-5 days of fishing. A 9-nautical mile long net is usually divided into 3 sections (or more) based on the shallowness of the fishing ground at the fishing point.

The net is usually dropped horizontally and drifts with the current, thanks to the system of lead and buoys floating about 1.5m above the bottom, all kinds of fish are caught and entangled in the net. This is the fishing method that has made the reputation of fishermen in the Quynh Phuong sea area. Particularly for Mr. Hoang Van Luan's family's boat, the average output per trip is 1.5 - 3 tons of fish, reaching a value of 200 - 450 million VND. The income of the workers is more than 100 million VND or more per person per year.

Mr. Hoang Cong Luan's family is one of the typical seafood fishermen in Quynh Phuong ward.

Not only Mr. Hoang Van Luan's family, in Quynh Phuong ward there are currently nearly 600 means of exploiting and catching seafood. Of these, 182 have a capacity from 90 CV to under 400 CV; there are 13 with a capacity from 400 CV or more. Most of the vessels with a capacity of over 90 CV fish offshore by using a small-scale trawl net.

The catch of the open-net trawling method is not high, averaging only 1.5 - 3 tons of fish per trip. However, the value of seafood is many times higher than other forms of fishing. Accordingly, each kilogram of tuna (including mackerel, scad, etc.) costs from 120,000 - 150,000 VND; the price of fish (including ax, beak, and scad) is 60,000 VND/kg. Therefore, although the catch is not high, Quynh Phuong fishermen still "win" thanks to the quality of seafood.

Perhaps only fishermen can fully understand the hardships, difficulties and many risks of the sea profession. But since it is a traditional profession, people live from the sea and die by the sea. As Ms. Phan Thi Hue, wife of fishing boat captain Bui Trung Thanh, in Hong Thai block, said, "because father and son, husband and wife love the sea, the sea treats them." Thanks to the "sea's treatment", Ms. Hue's family was able to build a trawler worth nearly 2 billion VND to catch squid in the autumn and winter seasons and fish with red nets in the spring and summer seasons. That 110-horsepower ship has helped 14 fishing families have a comfortable and prosperous life for many years now.

It is probably thanks to the "sea treatment" that from the first fishing cooperatives named Quyet Tien, up to now, in Quynh Phuong ward, 9 fishing associations have been formed with 33 cooperative groups for exploitation and fishing. In 2016, the catch of Quynh Phuong ward reached 14,250 tons. The product value reached nearly 309 billion VND. In particular, Quynh Phuong seafood is mainly for export, the export rate accounts for 65% of the total value of local seafood. Therefore, the quality of Quynh Phuong seafood is not only considered the top in Nghe An but also famous throughout the Central region and the whole country.

On the way back to Lach Con, we came across dozens of women gathered in groups knitting and mending nets along the narrow roads. When alone, coastal women are extremely quiet, but when in groups, they are extremely lively. One woman stopped knitting and chattered: “When you come back, the net is sparse and ruffled. My husband runs away from the waves and only comes home late at noon.” Their shrill laughter shook the nets, the sound seemed to blend with the sunlight shining on their rosy cheeks. The new spring seemed to have already begun to beat its rhythm on the curved trays of squid.

Dao Tuan