Fishermen reap "sea bounty" at the beginning of the year

After the Tet holiday of Giap Thin, up to now, fishermen in the province are busy "opening the sea" with the wish for a year of calm seas and full holds of fish and shrimp.

Fishermen reap

Many fishing boats of Quang Tri fishermen "hit it big" with yellowfin tuna during the first fishing trips of 2024 - Photo: HA

The beach of My Thuy village, Hai An commune, Hai Lang district has been bustling with laughter from fishermen returning from "opening the sea" as well as traders and relatives waiting on the shore since early morning. While quickly removing each blue crab from the net to put in a styrofoam box to sell to traders, fisherman Vo Viet Thang (55 years old) in My Thuy village excitedly said that the weather in the days after Tet is very favorable, so fishermen in the coastal coastal area are taking advantage of going to sea. His family's boat has been going to sea with other boats since the 3rd day of Tet to catch aquatic and seafood products using crab nets. Since going to sea to "open the sea" until now, his family's boat has had an average income of 1 - 2 million VND/trip from crab nets.

It can be seen that the traditional profession of catching aquatic and marine products along the coast of Hai An commune fishermen has been effectively maintained from the past until now, thanks to which, it has created a stable source of income. Especially during the Lunar New Year, many fishermen in Hai An commune have worked hard to stay at sea, so they have had a fairly high income to improve their lives. Right from the first trips of the year, many fishermen have caught many types of aquatic and marine products with high value such as green crabs, star crabs, squid, jellyfish... Although the catch is not much, in return, the selling price is higher than usual, so fishermen are very excited to enter the new sea season.

Since the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year, many fishermen in Gio Hai commune, Gio Linh district have been busy with their first fishing trip of the year. Fisherman Nguyen Minh The (49 years old) in Village 5, Gio Hai commune said that according to the concept of coastal fishermen, the first "sea trip" of the year has an important meaning, bringing a smooth start, a new year of calm seas, a prosperous life, so fishermen in Gio Hai commune have "opened the sea" since the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year.

On February 17th (January 8th), many fishermen in Village 5, including his family's boat, had a big catch of herring, earning several million VND after their trip to sea. From 3-4 am, Mr. The sailed his boat out to sea to cast a net to catch herring. At around 8 am, when he started pulling up the net, he saw that the net was completely covered with herring. He quickly pulled the net onto the boat and brought it to shore, then mobilized his family to remove the herring and sell it to traders with a yield of nearly 400 kg of herring, with prices ranging from 10,000 - 12,000 VND/kg.

It is known that on February 17 alone, fishermen in Gio Hai commune with about 10 boats went out to sea to fish for herring and caught about 2-3 tons of herring. In Gio Hai commune, there are currently about 200 fishing boats, including 12 offshore fishing boats. It is expected that in 2024, fishermen in Gio Hai commune will catch about 1,850 tons of various types of aquatic and seafood products.

Not only fishermen in coastal areas, dozens of offshore fishing boats of fishermen from Trieu An commune, Trieu Phong district; Gio Viet commune and Cua Viet town, Gio Linh district have begun gathering at Cua Viet fishing port to load and unload fishing gear, food, refuel... taking advantage of favorable weather to go offshore from January 4.

Fisherman Duong Van Diet in Xuan Tien village, Gio Viet commune, Gio Linh district, owner of offshore fishing boat number QT - 93331 TS, capacity 400 CV, said that in the days before Lunar New Year, fishermen in Gio Viet commune, Cua Viet town, Gio Linh district "hit the jackpot" with yellow catfish, anchovy and many other aquatic and seafood products. Since January 4th until now, many offshore fishing boats of Gio Viet commune fishermen have set sail to "open the sea" at the beginning of the year.

There are many fishing trips in the fishing grounds around Con Co Island landing with a yield of 1-4 tons of yellowtail, anchovy, and bream. Mr. Duong Van Diet's offshore fishing boat alone caught more than 3 tons of bream before Tet and sold them to traders, earning nearly 50 million VND. On January 6, Mr. Diet's boat started the first "open sea" trip of the year. After a few trips, his boat has an income of several tens of millions of VND/trip from the fish-picking profession.

Vice Chairwoman of Gio Viet Commune People's Committee Hoang Thi Thu Thuy said that Gio Viet Commune fishermen are expected to officially hold the "sea opening" ceremony on January 16. However, thanks to favorable weather, many fishing boats of Gio Viet Commune fishermen have been out to sea to catch seafood since January 4. Currently, Gio Viet Commune has 128 fishing boats and fishing services with a total capacity of 19,054 CV.

From January 17th to now, local fishermen have had a big catch of yellowtail and mullet fish... On average, each fishing trip (lasting from 1 to 3 days), each boat catches from 1 to 7 tons of fish. With a selling price of about 70,000 VND/kg of yellowtail fish; from 14,000 - 15,000 VND/kg of mullet fish, it has brought hundreds of millions of VND in income to fishermen. From January 2024 to now, the output of aquatic and seafood catch of Gio Viet commune has reached more than 700 tons.

Along the coast in the first days of the new year, one can feel the enthusiastic atmosphere and hard work of fishermen all year round "eating waves, talking wind" in the "open sea" season. Depending on the coastal or inlet sea area as well as the fishing industry, the ship and boat owners choose a day to hold the "open sea" ceremony to welcome the "sea fortune" at the beginning of the year. The "open sea" ceremony can be as simple as preparing necessary supplies and necessities, burning incense and praying to the god of the land, the god of the sea... then starting the engine to go out to sea to cast the net for good luck at the beginning of the year.

There are also places where the “sea opening” ceremony is solemnly held with the procession of the sea god and the sacred whale to the village temple. From early morning on a designated “good day”, the elders, prestigious people and a large number of fishermen in the village gather at the village temple to perform the ceremony to worship the land god. After that, the elders and prestigious people will board ships and boats to go out to sea (about 1-2 nautical miles from shore) to perform the procession of the sea god and the whale to the village temple.

Next is the ceremony to thank the sea god and whale at the village communal house to pray for peace in the fishermen's trips to sea. After the ceremony to worship the sea god and whale, all fishermen in the village will, depending on the conditions of each family, hold a ceremony to worship the boat and the wharf before making the first "open sea" trip of the year. All express wishes and hopes for the first "open sea" trips of the year to be peaceful, lucky and effective.

Hai An

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