Explore the seaside village at dawn.

lanh bien.2.JPG — The seaside village in the early morning.

At 3:30 in the morning, while other villages were still asleep, the coastal villages of Sam Son City, Quang Xuong District ( Thanh Hoa Province) were already bustling into a new day.

From within the village, under the casuarina trees, tractors begin to transport boats, rafts, and fishermen out to sea, beginning their fishing journey. Meanwhile, on the beach, numerous wheel axles lie scattered, indicating that many rafts had already set sail. These are the wheels used to "attach" to boats and rafts, which are then pulled out to sea or back to shore by tractors, replacing human effort.

Video: Exploring the fishing village

As dawn approached, more and more motorbikes poured onto the beach from all directions. At this time, the women of the fishing village also began to come to the beach to wait for their rafts and boats to return.

Around 4:30 a.m., the sounds of engines could be heard in the distance, gradually approaching the shore. Soon after, various boats and rafts docked. Each boat and raft brought back a large variety of seafood. This season, there were plenty of squid, crabs, shrimp, mantis shrimp, and various types of fish.

Fisherman Nguyen Van Bong (Dai Hung commune, Sam Son city) said that to make it back to shore in time for the early morning market, he and his son have to leave the night before. Currently, fishermen in Dai Hung coastal village are focusing on catching crabs, shrimp, squid, mantis shrimp, etc. Those rafts that set off early in the morning specialize in catching krill (small shrimp). They time their departure to early morning and return between 10 am and 12 pm to "get the sun" to dry the krill for sale as dried seafood.

Around 5 a.m., the beach area begins to liven up. The sounds of tractors, winches, and motorbikes mingle with the lively chatter and laughter that fills the entire area. The people of this coastal village, known for their boisterous nature, speak loudly, both men and women alike.

And every time boats and rafts come ashore, an interesting "auction" takes place. The raft owners bring their seafood onto the sand, and traders swarm around asking, "How much is this shrimp, crab, squid, etc.?" After the raft owner names a price, the traders haggle and compete with each other. After some bargaining, whichever trader agrees on a price with the raft owner weighs the seafood and pays. The seafood is quickly loaded onto motorbikes and taken to the early morning market.

A raft owner jokingly said that fishing, like farming, is like a good harvest when prices drop, and sometimes people are even forced to accept low prices. "But whether it's a good harvest or low prices, we fishermen still go out to sea because it's our livelihood, a traditional occupation passed down from our ancestors, and we can't abandon it," the fisherman shared.