Fishing village helps find drowning people

Quang Nam More than 15 households in Binh Hai commune, Thang Binh district fish for a living. When someone drowns, they fish for free to search for the body.

On the last day of May, Mr. Ho Van Chuong, 67 years old, residing in An Tran village, Binh Hai commune, brought 10 fishing rods out for repair. Each hook was sharpened and neatly put into the bamboo rod.

Fishing line or also called king fishing, the hook is dropped into the water but not baited. The hook is made of curved stainless steel, does not rust when soaked in sea water. The fishing line is put into a bamboo tube and tied tightly, called a fishing brace.

Each fishing line is 45 meters long, with a hook tied to it every 25 cm. The buoy is attached to the long line, and when dropped, it will float 20-30 cm above the seabed. When the fish swim past an obstacle, they will turn their heads or wiggle their tails and get caught on the hook. This profession mainly catches stingrays.

Mr. Ho Van Chuong has been fishing for nearly 40 years. Photo: Dac Thanh

The profession of fishing was introduced to An Tran village in the mid-1980s. The village has more than 45 households practicing the profession, becoming a famous fishing village without bait in Quang Nam. "This profession helps fishermen build houses and send their children to school," said Mr. Chuong.

In particular, the fishing village has also helped many families whose members have drowned. In nearly 40 years of fishing, Mr. Chuong has three times fished for drowned people at sea. The victims were relatives and even strangers. They died while fishing near the shore.

He brought each fishing line to determine the location and time of the body sinking, guessed the tide, and then dropped the line. One end of the fishing line was fixed on the shore, then he and other fishermen rowed the boat to the area where the victim was. Each 45 meter long fishing line was attached with 110 hooks and dropped down to form a long line close to the seabed.

The process of pulling must be slow, otherwise the hook will get stuck on the clothes when encountering a body. If a drowning victim has just died and is still submerged at the bottom and has not drifted far, it is likely that a hook will be able to retrieve him. If the victim has been drowning for more than 3 days, the body will float up, and a hook will be less likely to catch him, Mr. Chuong said.

A fishing line is dropped into the sea by fishermen to catch fish. Photo: Dac Thanh

When the body was discovered, the owner of the hook informed his relatives but did not touch it. The hook used to retrieve the body was discarded. Mr. Chuong did not ask for anything after paying for the hook. "Not just me, but all the villagers. We help to share the pain with the victim's family," he said, adding that each time he retrieved a body, he threw away about four fishing lines. Each fishing line was worth 160,000 VND.

200 meters from Mr. Chuong's house, Mr. Tran Van Binh has been fishing for more than 35 years and also making hooks. This job has helped him send his two children to college and has helped many people find bodies after drowning.

Relatives of many victims still come to his house to ask for help in recovering the bodies. He gives them fishing rods and shows them how to use them without taking any money. Some families who found the bodies later came to thank them. "They gave me some money but I didn't accept it. In their time of need, I'm willing to help them in any way I can without asking for anything," the 63-year-old fisherman said.

Mr. Binh lent the bridge to many people to use to search for drowning people. Photo: Dac Thanh

According to Mr. Tran Van Nam, Secretary of An Tran village, the village used to have 45 households practicing the profession, but now there are more than 15 households still maintaining the fishing. Whenever a drowning occurs in Quang Nam, the authorities and border guards mobilize fishermen to help.

"Dropping to retrieve bodies is very effective, especially in recent accidents. Fishermen spend effort and money hoping to find the body to share the pain with the victim's family," said Mr. Tran.

Dac Thanh

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