Strange fishing village on the mountain

Unlike many thousands of fishing boats in the sea, the fishing villages on the highlands are often hidden among the mountains and forests. People all year round make a living by fishing, taking lotus on the lake bed and this is the main income generating job.

People in the fishing village (Lake Ea Sup Lower) go fishing Oasis Looming behind the green-covered mountain, more than a hundred small wooden houses located at the foot of the mountain facing the immense water surface of Lower Ea Sup Lake (Ea Sup town, Ea Sup district, Dak Lak province). In the afternoon, the wind was cold, the garden of green trees hugged the lake bed, fishermen’s boats drifted … The households here have migrated from the West, most of them do not have arable land, live mainly by fishing. Everyday, people hire what they do. Mr. Nguyen Van Hung has worked as a fisherman here for more than a decade. People in this neighborhood all drifted away from the West to live by fishing, catching crabs and snails. Fish is the main source of income for each family. Around 3-4 pm, people get on boats to let go of their nets, and around 4-5 am the next morning to remove their nets. “Living in close attachment to the lake bed for more than ten years, although the fishing is sometimes less, life is still fun. Subtracting all the expenses for a day I still have about 2-3 hundred thousand VND left. In the Central Highlands there are few places where there are fish like this Ea Sup Lake ”, Mr. Hung said. The road to Lake Ea Soup is boiled with the smell of dried fish. On the porch of the solidly built house, Mr. Phung Van Thanh (SN 1968) quickly smashed each fish on a thin net. He shared that life outside Binh Dinh was difficult, so the family immigrated here to make a living for more than ten years. The new land has inclement weather, sand and sand, so that it is difficult for agriculture to take care of family life. Lake Ea Soup upper and lower volume of water year round, so there are many types of fish. People living around the lake, at first thinking of earning a few fish to improve their meals, who thought this was the main income, each day a family also earns hundreds of thousands of dong. Hunching over, the batch of fish dried on a woven net that was carefully shaded in the sun, he said, each day he and his wife pulled about 20-30 kg of fish, after drying, people came to buy them at home. The fish is clean and the quality is delicious, so they love it. The fishermen live and stick in this lake bed through the rainy season, the source of fisheries is extremely important. They only catch fish by traditional means using canoes, nets, fishing rods. This is a non-destructive fishing method that nurtures aquatic resources, so that people can have a long-term attachment to the fishing profession. Several dozen households for a living by fishing on the Buon Tua Sah hydroelectric lake (Krong No commune, Lak district) are familiar with the name of the fishing village. This small fishing village was established in 2009, when some people in the West came to work in fishing. They build boats, build houses right on the water. Every afternoon, people row out to sail away to release nets, light up the lights to chase fish late at night, early in the morning, dream up and remove fish in time to sell to traders. Mr. Hoang Van Dung (from An Giang) shared: “This job is very precarious, we can still work on normal days, but when it rains and storms, we are hungry. The family’s piece of rice looks forward to the net batches every night ”. The floating life on the river made many children drop out of school halfway. Hoang My Quyen had to quit school since 7th grade, stood a stall selling dried fish to passersby, and shared: “On a lucky day, I sold a few hundred thousand, but one day I could not sell any weight of fish. Here children only learn to be literate ”. People rowing boat picking lotus mirrors Quietly making a living Ms. Le Thi Hien, a resident of the lake bed, said that the fishing profession had to wake up early, sailing up the lake to drop the net. On average, each fishing trip, they collect 10-15kg of fish, mainly tilapia, snakehead (also called fruit fish), goby … Each month, they earn 4-5 million VND. Fishing is becoming more and more difficult because it depends on the weather. Far in the middle of Lake Ea Sup, three or four people were diving in the water. Mrs. Pham Thi Thuong held a bunch of lotus flowers from the lake, her whole body soaked with the smell of mud. Washed hands, took bread to hang from the fast food truck, she said: “In the morning I have to fast to soak in the water to pick the lotus, because if I eat it, it will make my stomach hard to wade. The work of picking lotus lotus must be skillful and gentle to avoid the broken lotus. The pickers had to dive for several hours in the water, crawling to the lotus root ”. According to Mr. Phung Van Thanh, who has worked for more than 10 years with fishing in Ea Sup Lake and Lower Lake, here fishing gives people a high and stable income. This is the freshwater fish production area of ​​the province. Fish are sold in the locality and other provinces such as Saigon, Binh Duong … She also did not remember how many years she had been following this profession of picking lotus lotus, only remembering every year in May she went to the lake to pick it up and sell it. In the season, early in the morning, she leaves home and leaves until noon from 11-12 o’clock. Every day, I can find a lot of lotus flowers, pick more than 10 bunches, sell 15 thousand dong / bunch. In this district, each time the family welcomes guests away from home, they buy them to make rice shrimp salad, which is both delicious, nutritious and easy to process. Many people put large quantities of sour salt to eat. In the afternoon in the border district, the sun is hotter, the heat is directly in the face, Mr. Le Hoang Tien, a resident of the lake area, prepares his equipment to board the boat. He said he and his wife often pick a lotus mirror and have to row a boat to a new deep water area, where the water is low and small. The mirror to be picked about is divided into two, the one that leaves the mirror intact and the one that separates the lotus seeds. Most customers choose the cup available. Sen in the main season, each day he and his wife can harvest more than 30kg for 30,000 VND / kg. “Many people in Buon Ma Thuot city often ask acquaintances here to buy old lotus seeds and peel them to dry them for long-term preservation. Sometimes picking is not enough for them to buy. Here, life is hard, but there are jobs to make money. In the evening, fish nets are released, while in the lotus season, picking and watching lotus in the daytime, ”Mr. Tien said.