Making a living under the reef

From early morning, at the rocky beach at the end of Cua Tung beach, the laughter of the divers drowned out the sound of the sea breeze. People called out to each other, some just waded ashore and opened plastic bottles to show off three or four lobsters. Mr. Nguyen Van Son, from Hoa Ly Hai neighborhood, Cua Tung town, bent down to a plastic bucket, gently brushed away the salty water, revealing several tiny lobsters, their whiskers still quivering slightly.

“You have to be very observant to see it,” he said. “Sometimes, just a single whisker shows and you know there’s a baby inside.” Then he said that every season, usually from February to May of the lunar calendar, the fishermen here gather together to go to the reef, where the most valuable “sea treasure” is hidden, the baby lobsters, to dive and catch them and sell them to traders waiting to buy them.

Making a living under the reef -0 — Lobster seeds are caught from the reefs in the Cua Tung sea area ( Quang Tri ).

The juvenile lobsters are only as big as a little finger, and they are very good at hiding. They often sneak into crevices of rocks, clinging tightly to deep holes that are difficult to see with the naked eye. Divers use a bicycle toothpick to gently poke the crevices. The lobsters move and spring out, and the right hand must quickly grab them; if they are a second too late, they will be lost. The plastic bottles they carry are not for drinking water, but to trap the swimming coins. Diving near the shore every day, about 30-40 lobsters, selling for 36,000 VND/lobster is enough for a meat-filled dinner. But the sea is not a peaceful market. A slip, a piece of mussel cutting a leg, or a wave crashing against a rock is enough to cause blood and scars.

“If you want to make a big profit, you have to go far away,” said Tran Xuan Vu, another diver, pointing to the swaying boats offshore. That is where the professional divers live. They not only have skills, but also have to invest tens of millions of dong, including small boats, gas generators, specialized diving goggles, hundreds of meters of lead lines, frogmen’s suits, and heavy lead lines to sink deep. 0.3 to 0.5 nautical miles from shore, they drop into the sea like a jump between life and death. At the bottom, they shine lights, press their faces against rocks, and search for each tiny antenna. On the boat, one person waits, eyes glued to the pressure gauge, ears straining to hear the sound of the engine, hands always ready to handle any problems.

A dive can last 3-4 hours. A skilled fisherman can catch hundreds of fish, earning several million VND/day. But many people have lost their lives. If the machine cuts off the air, the hose gets tangled in the propeller of another ship, or the lead wire is not released in time, there is no chance of returning.

It is known that in provinces such as Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa , Quang Ngai, the demand for lobster seeds has skyrocketed. Therefore, business owners are willing to spend millions to get seeds from the natural sea, which are considered healthy and resistant. So Cua Tung sea has become the source for shrimp farms in the South. But to get a lobster seed, sometimes it is exchanged for a scar, a painful knee joint or a lifetime of not being able to swim.

Every day, these men still hastily eat the meals their wives cook, go out on the boat in the early morning mist, and return when it is almost dark. Some days they hit it big, their pockets are full. Some days they are empty-handed, with only salt on their lips and fresh cuts on their hands. They are not dreamers, nor are they heroes. They just choose to live with their feet, hands, and lungs, among the cold rocks, with the belief that tomorrow will be better than today!

Source: https://cand.com.vn/doi-song/muu-sinh-duoi-day-ran-i772288/