Fishing in the shade of driftwood

More than 11 years ago I was fortunate to experience the work of a fisherman catching striped tuna on the high seas with lead seine on a 900 hp wooden hull boat numbered BD 94439 TS. . This was the largest fishing boat in Binh Dinh at that time owned by old fisherman Nguyen Van Ai in Xuan Thanh Village, My An Township (Phu My District, Binh Dinh).

When I arrived at the fishing grounds of Truong Sa, the fishing boat I was traveling on was no longer as fast as the first departure, but continued to run “angry” all over the sea. Surprised, I asked the driver Nguyen Minh Vuong (son of fisherman Nguyen Van Ai): “Why not run the boat fast to arrive early and save oil?”.

Fisherman Vuong smiled and explained in detail: “When it goes to the fishing ground, the seine boat has no destination, but let the boat run slowly, the boat runs, the crew members stand on both sides of the ship and watch. see when tree trunks float in the sea. Anyone who sees driftwood hopes for fish. Due to the characteristic of the striped tuna, it often hides in the shade of trees swimming in the flock. When I saw the drift tree, I lowered the divers to see how much or less fish there was under that tree trunk.

When I see a large stock of fish, I have people tie a flag and beacon to that log so we can see where the log is going day and night, and let the boat follow it slowly, the flag and beacon are also a signal to let other ships know that the fish has an owner. The next morning at 4am the boat starts to pull out the nets. Having “eaten” this catch, the ship moved on to find another driftwood, that is, to find another school of fish.

In the past, this traditional way of fishing by the Binh Dinh fishermen’s vessels specializing in sinkers was still productive, because at that time there were many fishing resources in the sea and few boats. . The sea I experienced on the old fisherman Nguyen Van Ai’s ship BD 94439 TS landed on the coast of Kham Be, with a catch of more than 10 tons.

But now, if the fishing boat that specializes in catching striped tuna continues to rely on floating logs, it will only be hungry. Because now, from tuna fishing boats to light seine fishing boats, everyone uses lights to attract fish. So if you keep looking for fish hiding in the shadow of driftwood, the trip may take twice as long, but you’re unlikely to reach the target crowd.

For this reason, hundreds of fishing boats specializing in the Quy Nhon fishermen’s plummet fishing are linked with tuna fishing boats to make their fishing trips more efficient.

I look forward to the call from the ocean tuna boat

Fishing vessel BD 91072 TS (capacity 725 hp) specialized in catching purse-seine fisherman Ha Quoc Thong (born 1976) in Tran Phu district (Quy Nhon city) just landed in Quy Nhon fishing port on September 25th of the lunar calendar (October 20th of the solar calendar), even though it was at the end of the fishing season, Mr. Thong’s boat still brought back 13 tons of striped tuna.

According to Mr. Thong, the peak striped tuna fishing season begins from May to October of the lunar calendar every year. This time is the south wind season, the sea water is warm, fish from the sea below (Malaysia) follow the water to Vietnam, so the fishing grounds appear a lot of striped tuna. There are no fish in the Gulf of Tonkin during these months. At the end of the 10th lunar month, the tuna fishing season is over.

Mr. Thong explained why his vessel was still catching fish on the last trip despite the end of the season: “I deal with a lot of tuna fishing boats. On their trips out to sea, while lighting the lights to attract tuna, if they see a group of striped tuna following the lights, they give up and let the fish hide out of habit.

Dates are the dried coconut tubes that are tied. When the light of the tuna fishing boat lights up, the squid gather, the squid eat the lights very badly! Striped tuna is said to eat squid according to the light, so the light to attract tuna can also attract striped tuna. After that, the tuna fishing boat will call me when my boat is fishing at sea, then rush to the coordinates of the ship you specify, and then when my boat is on the shore, it will do the damage and set sail. Every angler is enthusiastic about such trips because they are sure to catch fish.”

According to Mr Thong, any striped tuna trawler is associated with lead fishermen with many tuna fishing boats, and vice versa for tuna fishing boats. When a tuna fishing boat spots a school of striped tuna, the captain immediately “shows” and calls out the name of the owner of the “playable” wad.

Thong’s way of saying “playable” is fairness in sharing after catching that strip of tuna. Currently, the division in this ratio is 1/3, which means that the catch is divided into 3 parts, the seine catches 2 parts directly, and the deep-sea tuna vessel recognizes and keeps the flock. Fish get 1 share.

With this connection, the trawler can increase his income: in a month he can make 2 trips, even 3 trips if there is continuous information from the tuna ship. And tuna fishing boats also have a side income in addition to their main job. Both sides benefit!

“On this trip I also went fishing at the call of a tuna fishing boat so the time to move and catch was only within 10 days to reach the shore. The current price for class 1 striped tuna is VND 29,000/kg, with 13 tons of fish, my ship average income is more than VND 350 million, after deducting travel expenses, 10 crew members accompany the ship. My share is more than 5 million VND each. That’s why I’m happy every time I hear a call from a deep-sea tuna fishing boat,” said fisherman Ha Quoc Thong.