The job of "walking backward" on the beach.

Every dry season, coastal fishermen bring their tools to the coastal fishing villages in the province such as Tan Thanh, Mui Ne, Hoa Thang, Phan Ri Cua… to catch monitor lizards for a living.

The job of "walking backward" on the beach to rake for sea cucumbers.

From dawn, Mrs. Le Thi Bay (Hai Tan village, Phan Ri Cua commune) and her husband are already at the beach. When the tide recedes, revealing a white sand beach stretching for hundreds of meters, that's when the people who make their living… “walking backward” on the sea appear. Their equipment consists of a wide rectangular iron frame with serrated edges at the front to easily scoop sand into the frame, and a long net at the back. With a belt around her waist, Mrs. Bay firmly grips the rake handle and shakes it repeatedly to gather sand into the iron frame, walking backward along the shore. At that time, the sand is washed away by the water, leaving only tiny geckos the size of a little finger, along with seashells, clams, and other shellfish inside the net.

After about 10-15 minutes, when the net behind her is heavy, Mrs. Bay will carry it ashore, empty it into a sack, and continue her work. It looks quite simple, but the iron frame is quite heavy, and dragging sand mixed with water behind it requires those who do the job to be strong. Mrs. Bay and her husband, along with other fishermen, continue toiling like this until late afternoon, even though the weather has been hot and humid in recent days, because these sand crabs only appear for a few months of the year.

By noon, when the sun was high in the sky, Mrs. Bay had managed to collect three sacks of clams, each weighing about 50 kg. At a price of 2,500-3,000 VND/kg, Mrs. Bay earned approximately 400,000 VND per day. Working together, she and her husband had extra income after the off-season, helping them cover living expenses and pay for their children's education.

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This job is quite tough because you have to immerse yourself in water and work under the hot sun, but if you work hard, it can provide a better income than jobs like scavenging for shellfish, gutting fish, or drying fish for hire…

Ms. Le Thi Bay, residing in Hai Tan village, Phan Ri Cua commune.

Not only in the Phan Rí Cửa sea area, but also along coastal fishing villages such as Hòa Thắng, Rạng, Kê Gà, Hòn Lan..., the sight of fishermen raking for these creatures backward has become familiar to locals and piques the curiosity of many tourists.

The clam is a type of mollusk that resembles a clam but is smaller in size.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh (Phu Tan village, Phan Ri Cua commune), who has been raking for sea cucumbers for over 10 years, shared: “This profession depends on the weather and tides. April and May are the most suitable times to rake for sea cucumbers because the tide recedes and the sea is calm, allowing us to work for longer periods. This job usually lasts until the end of the year; however, during the monsoon season, with strong winds and big waves, we rake less or switch to shore-based work, doing whatever jobs we can find.”

According to the fishermen, the work is less strenuous during months when the tide recedes deeply, exposing long stretches of sand. However, in months when the tide rises quickly, to achieve a high catch, they are forced to immerse themselves in the water and move backward, which is very difficult. Therefore, this profession is usually only for men with good health, and they can only earn around 1 million VND per day.

The clam, also known as the "chằn chằn," is a type of mollusk that resembles a clam but is only about the size of a little finger. Its meat is so small that few people harvest it for cooking because separating the meat from the shell is too laborious. Over the past decade or so, with the booming development of whiteleg shrimp farming, many shrimp farms in Phu Yen (formerly), Khanh Hoa , and the Vinh Hao commune shrimp farming area in the province have begun purchasing clams to grind them into feed for shrimp or fish raised in cages. After grinding, the clam meat becomes a highly nutritious food source (replacing industrial feed), providing excellent calcium and mineral supplements to keep shrimp and fish healthy and boost their immunity.

While the practice of trawling for sea cucumbers may not make fishermen rich, it provides a stable source of income for those living near fishing villages in the province. This "backward" occupation also makes the picture of the fishing industry more vibrant and peaceful.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/nghe-di-thut-lui-บน-bai-bien-445520.html