The border areas are preparing for the floods.

When the Mekong River, laden with sediment, signals the approaching flood season, fishermen along the Vinh Te canal begin preparing their fishing gear to catch fish and shrimp in the fields.

Every year, when the floods come, fishermen harvest snakehead fish, earning a substantial extra income.

Fishermen are waiting for the flood.

For generations, nature has generously bestowed upon the fishermen of the border region a large abundance of seafood during the flood season. Understanding the natural cycle, every year in July, as the water level rises to the banks, the people prepare to welcome the flood with great hope. For a long time, the legendary Vinh Te canal has not only facilitated irrigation and bustling trade but also brought a large quantity of seafood from the Mekong River into the fields. Currently, in the stilt houses built to withstand the flood along the Vinh Te canal, fishermen are busy mending nets and sharpening mangrove branches to prepare for the flood. According to our observations, the fields bordering the border have seen the summer-autumn rice harvest completed, and the people are eagerly awaiting the floodwaters to come to the fields so they can earn a living by fishing for fish and shrimp.

We met Mr. Nguyen Van Be Nam, a resident of Vinh Te ward, who was busily sharpening melaleuca trees in preparation for setting up his nets along the riverbank to catch fish. Looking at the swirling water flowing aimlessly, Mr. Be Nam confidently predicted that in a few weeks, the floodwaters would overflow the banks, allowing for an abundant harvest of small fish. To date, Mr. Be Nam has earned his living by setting up fishing traps in these riverside fields for over 20 years. Every year, from around May to July, he prepares his trees, nets, boats, and canoes to begin the flood season fishing. “Lately, my wife and I have been working non-stop. After sharpening the melaleuca trees, we move on to mending and weaving nets… When the floodwaters cover the fields, my wife and I set up our traps to catch fish and shrimp,” Mr. Be Nam said.

This season, along the Vinh Te canal, you'll see people busily preparing to set up fishing lines, mend nets, and seal their boats and canoes. Locals say that during the flood season, many fishermen set traps, cast lines, and cast nets here. Mr. Be Nam told me that if I visited this stilt house village in a few days, I would see hundreds of boats and canoes bustling across the flooded fields, catching fish and shrimp. Pointing down to the canal, which was red with silt, Mr. Be Nam confidently asserted: "In about two weeks, when you come back, this village will be bustling with people buying and selling early-season fish. Every household relies on the bounty of nature during the flood season to earn a stable income through fishing, netting, and the lively fish trading."

Hopefully there will be plenty of fish and shrimp.

Further along, we encountered locals reinforcing the canal banks with stakes to prevent erosion during the flood season. Inquiring about their preparations for fishing, everyone eagerly discussed their plans for the upcoming flood season. Mr. Tran Van Den, paddling his small boat on the Vinh Te canal, stopped by and cheerfully struck up a conversation with us. Looking at the floodwaters carrying heavy silt, Mr. Tran Van Den explained that the flooded fields were teeming with fish. The border fields were bustling with the rhythmic noise of fishermen's engines. For generations, the Vinh Te fields bordering Cambodia have always been abundant with fish and shrimp. "Cambodian fishermen also exploit aquatic resources in the flooded fields. Each side fishes in its own territory; no one encroaches on the other's," Mr. Den confided.

According to local traders, during the flood season, Cambodian fishermen harvest seafood and transport it to Vietnam to sell to buyers. The friendship and cooperation between the people of both sides remain strong, with no conflicts occurring. According to Mr. Bé Năm, even before the floodwaters rise, Cambodian fishermen call him to ask him to weave fishing nets for them to place along the canals during the flood season. “I have experience weaving nets to make fishing traps. Seeing how successful I was setting them in the canals, they asked me to help,” Mr. Bé Năm explained.

While watching Mr. Bé Năm prepare his fishing gear, Mr. Ngô Văn Sàng – a small trader specializing in buying freshwater fish during the flood season – said that he is waiting for the floodwaters to rise so he can buy fish and shrimp from fishermen. He hopes that this year the flood will be strong, bringing in plenty of fish and shrimp, so that fishermen and traders can make a living. The three months of flooding each year provide a stable income for poor people. “Every year, at the beginning of the flood season, I go from house to house asking them to sell their fish to me. The fish I buy are weighed and delivered to owners of fish ponds and rafts to be used as feed. Thanks to that, I have some money coming in and going out to support my children's education,” Mr. Sàng explained.

Lately, Mr. Le Van Giau has been eagerly awaiting the floodwaters to rise so he can buy fish from local fishermen. Mr. Giau's house is located along the Vinh Te canal, making it convenient for him to buy freshwater fish and distribute them to markets. After purchasing the fish, Mr. Giau hires his neighbors to clean the intestines, pack them in bags, freeze them carefully, and then send them by truck to his customers at wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City. “There's more than enough fish here to eat, but they're very rare in Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, during the flood season, my family thrives thanks to the fish and shrimp from the fields. In addition, poor people here earn 200,000 - 300,000 VND per day from cleaning the fish,” Mr. Giau said.

At midday on the border, the scorching sun was suddenly obscured by a curtain of clouds, and torrential rain poured down on the stilt houses that had survived the flood. There, the villagers eagerly awaited the floodwaters rising in the fields, hoping for a busy farming season.

Text and photos: THANH CHINH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/ven-bien-ruc-rich-don-lu-a424862.html