The hearts of the sea

April is the starting time for the south winds to overflow across the southwest sea of ​​the country. In the hustle and bustle of the day of the working season, the ships proudly mounted a decent red and yellow flag, and the sea sang thousands of years of songs on the waves.

Reaching off the epidemic season

Tens of thousands of ships along the coast of Vietnam are still stretching day and night to exploit seafood in traditional fishing grounds. The fishermen who go out to sea to stick to the sea not only make a living but also make living milestones, affirming the sovereignty over the sacred islands of the country.

At 5:00 a.m. on the first day of March, 2021, from Nam Du fishing port (An Son island commune, Kien Hai district, Kien Giang province), captain Le Quang Anh’s ship (Hai Anh) pulled anchors out to sea, heading straight to the fisherman. Ca Mau school – Kien Giang. This is considered one of the largest fishing grounds in our country because this area has currents carrying many plankton, along with a rich and abundant source of seafood. At the same time, this area also has a shallow continental shelf, many estuaries and tidal flats that are favorable for fishing.

The achievement of the sea after the tough nets.

On this trip, Mr. Hai Anh’s boat used ruffled nets. This form of fishing makes little disturbance to the benthic biota. Catched products are aquatic species with high economic value such as mackerel, tuna, herring … After 3 hours of breaking and reaching the sea, the boat has reached the traditional fishing ground and began to float the nets. Waiting time to pull the first batch of fish takes 4-6 hours. Captain Hai Anh and the crew on the boat took advantage of the nets to take a nap at night.

Seafaring in the South season is relatively mild, the wind is gentle, but thunderstorms are always sudden. Therefore, even though it is a “gentle” sea, the danger is unpredictable.

For nearly 2 years, the COVID-19 epidemic has been raging, affecting seriously consumption volume and price. Hai Anh ship’s seafood specializes in supplying 3 large restaurants in Phu Quoc. Influence of the disease, few tourists, and the restaurant was in a bad state, it forced prices down very low. There was a return sea trip, the price hit the bottom but the restaurant still could not consume it, the rest Hai Anh had to bring the termites to the fish sauce company at the “afternoon market” price.

The master “hears the fish”

Nguyen Xuan Thang (Tu Thang, 45 years old) has been a fisherman since the time his hair was still cropped, over 30 years up to now. Mr. Thang is a good “listening fish” hand that any ship wants to pull him away. After a sea trip of more than 20 days from Hai Anh ship, Mr. Tu Thang just returned home to throw the children fresh fish from the sea, took a few more clothes, then rushed to the dock to board the captain’s boat to scratch. Year of Singing. This time the rafting ship is expected to stay at sea for 30 days to return to shore, with crew of 8 people on board. The number of rake net is too small, the ship should have 3 more excellent fishermen, but they are stuck at Truong Sa fishing ground in Khanh Hoa sea.

Sewing nets, arranging nets to prepare for a night of fish hunting.

Scratching rake (also known as drag net) is a key fishing method of the fishery. The output of aquatic products caught by the drag net is estimated at over 50% of the total production. The fishing trawl fishery lives in the bottom layer, the seabed is relatively flat, the depth is usually 20-100m. The most important step of pounding depends on your ability to guess the flow of the fish. This is based entirely on a “listening to fish” player like Tu Thang.

The first quality of a person who “listens to fish” is to swim well and dive like a fish. With these two abilities, Tu Thang has been a “valedictorian” since the age of 20. On this voyage, Tu Thang’s boat prioritizes grouper and squid fishing. Grouper is known as a rare and high-priced seafood species. To hunt grouper flow, Tu Thang first had to dive into the sea, to find coral reefs and caves to explore. The grouper is an aggressive and very clever species, so it is difficult for humans to approach even from a distance.

Instead of looking directly at the flow of fish, Tu Thang will check the food carcasses of the fish left on the seabed and the smoothness of the rock cavities. Wherever the reef is cloudy, there is a lot of flora and small animals, there are grouper. Then, the diver pressed his ears to the rock niches to hear the water flowing around him. If the water is gurgling, then there must be grouper flocks around.

These signs, only experienced fish listeners like Tu Thang can feel. After correctly determining the flow of fish, the rake net will surround and sweep. The grouper, no matter how cunning and cunning, are still caught by “fangs” of pounding.

Mr. Tu prepares for the diving phase to find fish.

After each batch of grouper, the rake net is greatly torn by the sharp teeth and puncture of the fish’s fins. The mesh stitching takes a lot of time, requires meticulousness and patience. When night fell, all the sailors on board began to scratch the bottom floor squid. Like that, they worked until dawn the next day.

Every half a month, cargo ships will go to the fishing grounds to buy seafood. Trading on the sea is not like any other market, because both sellers and traders are fishermen for a long time, they understand the sea too well. They did not pay the price, what the price was, the seller just smiled and happily transferred the fish to the ship. The fish shipments are full, the ship is ready to donate to the collectors a few kilograms each, on the contrary, every time a failure, the boat buys happily “tip” more money tea.

After each transaction, the crew on the ship is immediately divided the remuneration. Their work is calculated according to the output in the form of “let’s eat together, lose together”. They can send money to buy to bring home or keep with them, have the opportunity to visit the island to refuel or shelter from storms will use the money to spend ashore.

The sea still sings the song on the waves

In recent years, the Kien Giang – Ca Mau fishing ground has been “poor” gradually. The fishing boats are more and more, so there is competition for channels and fishing grounds. The income of the sailors decreased gradually, so they went to search for a new land. Part of life is about life, but much of it wants to freely waving around in the vast sea and sky of the country.

Truong Sa, ever since has become a call of love tightly squeezed into the heart of every fisherman. Mr. Tu Thang said that at the beginning of 2021, he also had a trip to Truong Sa with his colleagues in the fishing village of Bich Dam (Khanh Hoa).

The trip in the fish-up season (the fish species migrating in the Southern waters began moving to the North), although hard and high-risk, made Mr. Tu Thang more excited. Because, the ship’s captain is the benefactor who saved his life 11 years ago in Truong Sa, when his ship crashed at sea. Remembering that night, Mr. Thang still choked. In those days, the boats went to the net, the fishing tools were rudimentary, but not modernly improved as now. The sea in June is relatively peaceful, on the mainland it is in the hot summer season, so no one thinks the night sea is windswept, such a terrible tornado.

The small ship is still standing in front of the ocean winds.

The ship was swept directly by a tornado, in a split second the deck burst into many pieces, the river-lamp fell into the sea, the side of the ship burst out, water flooded into the compartment. Only about 5 minutes, the ship rolled and turned upside down. Six sailors hugged plastic cans, tires plunged into the dark one-color sea. The cry for help faded away, weakened, then only the very light breathing of the exhausted people remained. Luckily Tu Thang was able to hold the tire, then he was too tired to fit into a small circle, trying to hold his arms and legs. The other brothers, holding onto plastic cans that could not stand the wind, let go of their hands, then sank into the seabed.

After eight famous floating uncertainties in the middle of the sea, at the dawn of the next day, Mr. Thang was now exhausted, and suddenly felt a strong hand grasp his body. When he woke up, he found himself lying in a warm blanket on a dry cabin, and turning his head sideways to find a familiar colleague on board the old train. Mr. Thang hugged you and cried.

So only 2 people were saved during that fateful trip. Returning to the shore, Tu Thang was taken care of by the family of captain Le Tan Cuong until the day he was well.

Tu Thang wanted to accept Captain Cuong as his brother, but Mr. Cuong just laughed, saying that Vietnamese fishermen from all ages are brothers and sisters. Mr. Cuong told Tu Thang not to be too fussy about the past, but to stick to the sea, love the sea and ready to help anyone in distress at sea. Because of that teaching, the love of the sea in Tu Thang’s heart is always deep, and in hardship remains intact.

Because of the deep love, but only Captain Cuong called out an hour, Mr. Thang was ready to go, leaving without a moment of hesitation. A year, Mr. Thang goes to Truong Sa beach at least 1 trip, each year at most 5 trips. The rest of the time, he returned to his hometown in Kien Giang, following a friend’s ship here and there, wandering in the sea.

The seafarers live by the pride and dignity of the man. Human love at sea is no longer a matter of debate. Because of that, many fishermen with heavy debt cannot leave the sea. Captain Nam Hat, despite turning 60 years old with nearly 50 years of fighting the ocean, is still firmly on the steering wheel before many seasons of rough seas. All his life, Mr. Nam Hat traveled throughout the seas from Hoang Sa, Truong Sa to the Southwest. Many times life was fragile in front of the ship, due to natural disasters and human ears, but he never wavered. To him, if he had to die on the sacred sea and sky of the Fatherland, he still stubbornly accepted it.