The hard work of shrimp fishing

North Central fishermen exploit the new Chiem season

At this time, fishermen in coastal villages in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces are entering the new fishing season.

Normally, there are two main rice crops each year: the Chiem crop (also known as the Southern crop) in the 6th and 7th lunar months; the Summer crop (also known as the Northern crop) starts from the end of the 8th lunar month of this year until January of the following year.

Clip: The hard work of shrimp fishing

These days, the sea in Sam Son, Quang Xuong ( Thanh Hoa province) is rough and the waves are big, so it is very difficult and even dangerous for fishermen to go out to sea to fish.

Fisherman Le Xuan Tiep, Quang Hai commune (Quang Xuong district) shared that if the weather is calm, fishermen go out to sea at 3-4 am and return to shore around 8-9 am, because they fish in the open sea. However, these days the sea is rough, the crabs do not come close to shore, so fishermen have to go out to sea to fish. They also go out to sea at 3-4 am but return to shore around 11:30 to 12:30, which takes a lot of effort and fuel.

Around 11am, pedestrians and motorcyclists began to flock to the estuary in village 9 (Quang Hai commune, Quang Xuong district). They went to the sea to catch the rafts. Some women sat under the shade of casuarina trees, looking out to sea, while others spread out large tarps on the open ground to prepare to dry the shrimp.

Under the casuarinas, the women said that the fishing profession is similar to the salt profession, the more sunny it is, the more they have to "rush out of the house", "if there is sunshine, they win, if there is no sunshine, they lose". On days when the weather is not sunny or "temperamental", the fishing must be immediately sold to traders, so the price is forced down. Meanwhile, fishing on sunny days, the fishing can be dried proactively, so the price is good and they are not dependent. Therefore, even if they have to "expose themselves to the fishing", they have to accept it.

Currently, at the beginning of the season, the stems of the clams are still small but the price is high. Currently, the price of fresh clams ranges from 12,000 to 14,000 VND/kg, while if dried, the price is 65,000 to 68,000 VND/kg.

Around noon, the rafts lined up to reach the shore. The sound of engines mixed with the sound of waves and people echoed throughout the area. Although the sea was windy, the air was stifling. Everyone was sweating profusely, their faces flushed.

Because of the rough sea, it was very difficult to bring the raft to shore. Although there was support from a tractor, many times the raft was pulled to shore but the waves pushed it back. Many people had to crowd around to "help" it to shore.

As soon as the raft was pulled ashore, the clams were quickly carried by strong men to the drying ground. Here, women and the elderly were waiting. They immediately used baskets to spread and sprinkle the clams on the tarpaulin. A woman said: “If we don’t dry them quickly, the clams won’t dry in time, and if there’s a thunderstorm in the afternoon, all the work of the day will be in vain. The clams that don’t get enough sunlight or get soaked in water can only be fed to livestock and poultry, the selling price is worth the effort of drying them.”