The profession of wrapping iron chains around one's body, challenging the River God at the bottom of the river

At around 7am, fishermen near Tho Quang fishing port ( Da Nang ) began bringing their tools and homemade "boats" to the large sluice of the fishing port to dive and pick up tiny manta rays to sell for money.

Nghề cuốn xích sắt vào người, thách thức Hà Bá ở đáy sông - 1 — The homemade "boat" with all the equipment for diving to catch catfish of fishermen in Tho Quang ward, Da Nang (Photo: Hoai Son).

Bom bop is the name given by Da Nang people to a mollusk with two black shells, about the size of a finger, living mainly on cliffs and bamboo poles in fresh and brackish water.

To catch them, the workers must wrap themselves in chains weighing nearly 10kg to dive quickly and deeply to the bottom of the river to avoid being pushed up by the water.

Each worker is equipped with a long plastic tube connected to an oxygen machine placed on a foam box to maintain breathing.

Nghề cuốn xích sắt vào người, thách thức Hà Bá ở đáy sông - 2 — The octopus catcher is equipped with goggles, diving suit and a long plastic tube connected to an oxygen machine placed on a styrofoam box (Photo: Hoai Son).

At the bottom of the river, more than 4m deep, the worker has to try to "sniff" out where the "mango bốp" is clinging. When he finds the "goods", he has to use a specialized tool to chisel out large pieces and put them in a basket. A dive takes about 10 minutes, and when the basket is full of mango bốp, the worker will come up to the surface.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam (residing in Nai Hien Dong ward, Son Tra district) said that during diving, problems can occur such as the breathing machine breaking while in deep water, the rope breaking... Therefore, if you detect anything unusual, you must immediately surface.

Nghề cuốn xích sắt vào người, thách thức Hà Bá ở đáy sông - 3 — Women who dive to catch octopus have to work in polluted water and floating waste (Photo: Hoai Son).

Besides, having to wrap iron chains makes it difficult for the worker to move. Therefore, this job is only for very strong people who are used to water.

Mr. Phan Thanh Truc (44 years old, living in Tho Quang ward, Son Tra district) said that because the mantis shrimp has little meat, it is mainly caught to feed lobsters. Previously, no one bought this type of seafood so no one caught it. In recent years, traders have been looking to buy mantis shrimp a lot, so people have more work.

According to Mr. Truc, diving to catch octopus also has to face many dangers lurking underwater such as broken glass, bottles, bricks, scrap iron, etc., so experience is needed to handle the situation.

Nghề cuốn xích sắt vào người, thách thức Hà Bá ở đáy sông - 4 — Traders buy Bom Bop for 2,000-3,000 VND/kg (Photo: Hoai Son).

The mantis shrimp are at the bottom of the river so they must be cleaned before being brought to shore and traders must be called to come and buy them at the price of 2,000-3,000 VND/kg.

"Today the water is a bit sparse, so I had to dive in the river for about 6 hours to get about 100-200 kg, which I could sell for about 300,000 VND," said Mr. Truc.

For people like Mr. Truc and Ms. Tam, even though they know the job is hard and miserable, they still work hard, endure hardships, and dive to the bottom of the river, challenging the River God every day.

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