Making a living by the lake

A new day at Tan Minh wharf, Bao Ai commune - a familiar anchorage point for boats carrying shrimp and fish from Thac Ba lake, usually starting at 4am. One morning in mid-October, the rain covered the lake, but the hustle and bustle of life was still bustling. Every day, the image of people attached to the lake, diligently catching fish, collecting goods, sewing nets, painted a picture of ordinary life.

When it was still dark, with only the flashlights casting a silvery light on the water - a familiar sign of a new day, Mr. Hung and his wife, Mrs. Nga, began their work. Perhaps, they were the earliest risers at Tan Minh wharf.

Although exhausted after many hours of hard work taking care of the fish, Mr. Hung and Mrs. Nga still diligently do their work. No longer catching fish in the wild as before, with the support and propaganda from the government, Mrs. Nga's family has completely switched to raising fish in cages, using an oxygen system and pumps to create a suitable water environment for the fish to grow and develop.

Also making a living at Tan Minh wharf, there is Mr. Sam Van On, Trung Son village, who has been working with his wife in the fish purchasing business for more than ten years. "Every day, I start work at 3am to weigh and collect fish for the wholesalers from Lao Cai to Hanoi . Each restaurant takes 50 to 70 kilos, some places take 100kg" - Mr. On said while busily loading fish onto the truck.

Struggling to make a living on a rainy day, Mr. On still smiled: "We only rest when there are big storms and floods, but rain like this is still a daily occurrence." Saying that, lifting a fish weighing nearly ten kilograms in his hand, Mr. On still had time to proudly show off the aquatic resources of his hometown lake: "The fish are clean, they are not fed with growth-enhancing food."

At a corner of the dock, Mr. Pham Thai, from Tan Minh village, had just docked his boat after several hours of netting on the lake. He pointed to the fish tank and said, "We caught very few fish today because it's raining too much." Due to his advanced age, he no longer has the strength to go far and only nets around the dock. It's not just a way to make a living, but also a habit that's hard to break. Even though he has to wake up early and start work at 4 a.m., even though it's raining... he still sails his boat out to the lake, because "catching fish is fun."

In a house floating on the lake, Ms. Nguyen Thi Chung quickly sewed a fish net for the cargo boat while chatting, "Every day I'm at the dock, sewing bags in the morning and delivering goods in the afternoon. There are days when there are so many goods that I can't keep up." Ms. Chung and her husband have been attached to Tan Minh dock for nearly 20 years. Although drifting in a house floating on the lake, Ms. Chung is always happy with her livelihood: "Watching the lake every day, living with the job, is a joy, but it also helps my family have an income, cover living expenses and take care of my youngest child who is of school age."

At the corner of the floating house, it is still a familiar daily task, Ms. Chung’s husband meticulously removes each small fish from the net. Due to poor health, her husband only spreads the net near the floating house and wakes up early to collect the fish. The small achievement is a simple joy for the couple living in the lake area.



When the sky brightened, the rain gradually stopped, fishing boats returned to Tan Minh wharf one by one, bringing with them their catch, some boats were full of fish and shrimp, some boats only had a few small fish. I realized that, amidst the hustle and bustle of life, the beauty of diligence, of people who love the lake, who are attached to their lives with natural resources - which also holds a part of the soul of the people of Thac Ba lake area.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/muu-sinh-ben-ben-ho-post884558.html