The seaweed season usually starts from the third to the seventh lunar month. During this time, fishermen in Thai An village, Vinh Hai commune continuously stick to the sea to have a bumper harvest.

Boats and sampans ready to harvest seaweed.

From the shore, it takes about 2 hours by boat to reach the seaweed cutting area. Fishermen use compressed oxygen tanks to dive into the sea at depths of 0.5 to 7 meters to cut the seaweed. The remaining person on the boat uses a pole with a hook to collect the seaweed into piles floating on the sea surface and transfer them to the boat.

Move seaweed to shore.

Each trip to collect seaweed usually takes 3-5 hours. After the boat is full of seaweed, the fishermen land and dry the seaweed along the coast. The seaweed must be dried before being sold, so the hotter the weather, the more favorable the harvest, the normal drying time is about 1 day. The dried seaweed is collected, packaged and waiting for traders to come and buy it and sell it to neighboring provinces and the whole country.

Dried seaweed is packed in bags.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lum in Thai An village, Vinh Hai commune (wearing yellow jacket) dries seaweed.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lum (Thai An village, Vinh Hai commune) excitedly said: "On average, my family harvests more than 300 kg of seaweed every day. With prices ranging from 5,500 to 10,000 VND/kg, after deducting expenses, we earn more than 500,000 to 700,000 VND/day."

According to comrade Nguyen Thanh My, Secretary of the Vinh Hai Commune Party Committee, in addition to dozens of boats of local people, many people from other localities also come to exploit seaweed in the commune's sea area. The reason for this phenomenon is because seaweed has nutritional value, and at the same time, the price of dried seaweed is high, so people focus on harvesting. However, this is only the season of natural seaweed in 4 months of the year, besides that, people have to do other jobs to make a living.

Reporters of the People's Army Electronic Newspaper recorded some images in the sea of ​​Thai An village during the seaweed harvest season.

Fishermen row their boats to harvest seaweed.

Fishermen move seaweed ashore.
Seaweed is dried in the sun and wind.
High seaweed prices make fishermen more excited.
Dry and stir-fry seaweed.
Drying seaweed requires women to be healthy and able to withstand harsh sunlight.

Transfer the sacks for traders to pick up.
The boats returned loaded with seaweed.
Clip of boats and sampans ready to go out to sea to harvest seaweed.

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VU DUY HIEN (performed)