Every morning, hundreds of traders are present at Nghi Thuy fishing port, Cua Lo Town (Nghe An Province) to pick up goods from more than 100 transshipment boats. Due to the narrow berth, most ships with a capacity of over 450 CV have to dock at a seaport a few kilometers away and then use a transshipment vessel to bring fish to shore.

Nghi Thuy fishing port becomes most crowded at 5 am everyday

Mr. Vo Van Tuat, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghi Thuy Ward, Cua Lo Town, said that Nghi Thuy currently has 110 boats, of which 46 do the fishing offshore, the rest do the fishing near the shore, four boats are equipped with 800 CV capacity engine, the rest are smaller, from 350-600 CV.

The fishing port is busy and animated from early morning, with people bringing on shore fish, shrimp and squid from ships and boats, and other activities between sellers and buyers in a vibrant atmosphere

Nghi Thuy is considered a "capital" of Cua Lo in terms of sea products. From early morning, Nghi Thuy fishing port is crowded with sellers and buyers. After the trucks are fully loaded, they rush to the city and rural areas inside and outside the province to bring fresh seafood to local people. In the coastal land with high population density, the budget for construction of multi-storey buildings and concrete roads comes from the fishing industry.

Around 6 am, after the fish is transported ashore, a lot of traders turn up to buy. The fish is loaded onto refrigerated trucks for delivery to the South and the North

No matter which season is, a new working day at Nghi Thuy fishing port starts at 1-2 am. Groups of people, young and old, flock to the fishing port for daily work. Despite the hard work, making a living is their top priority.

Transactions take place very quickly, so that the traders can save time for transportation to other provinces and cities, while merchants in Nghe An can buy seafood for retail sale in district markets

Boats and ships come one after another to the port, unloading the fish, shrimp, and squid…. Each group of porters, mostly middle-aged women, walk to the edge of the water to receive fish from ships and boats and then hurriedly bring them ashore. Their rapid and urgent mood of working seems to reveal that everyone is afraid that if they slow down a bit, the income of a working day would decrease.

The women hastily carry the seafood ashore

At nearly 4 am, Nghi Thuy fishing port gets animated. Fishing boats are busy sailing in and out. Tonnes of fresh fish are picked up from the ship's compartment and sold to traders waiting on the shore.

Prices fluctuate depending on the seasonal catches and type of seafood. Shrimp, squid or fish are always available for sale

The seafood here is fresh, caught nearby the shore by the night fishing boats. The port is also a place for fishermen to anchor their boats after returning from fishing trips.

Nghi Thuy fish market is a destination for many tourists. They buy fresh seafood as gifts, so the vacuum packaging service is quite attractive to customers and visitors

Although this time is not the main fish season (the peak fish season is the seventh and eighth lunar months), many fishing boats from far away dock to sell fish. The fish catch in this season is quite diverse such as scad, mackerel, grouper, tilapia, squid, cuttlefish, shrimp, and many other species of junk fish...sometimes other special fish... all very fresh. Seafood in the Central region is considered to be of the best quality in the country.

A dozen meters from the wharf, there are retail stores reselling to merchants or tourists

Nguyen Van Bien, captain of a fishing boat in Nghi Thuy, said that boats here mainly catch floating fish such as tilapia and scad... and they start their journey from the previous afternoon and come back to shore in the early morning of the next day. If the boat needs gasoline supply from an oil tanker at sea, you can sell the fish catch, and then sail out for another catch.

The women of the sea village are busy with the job of grilling fish. On average, every day, one oven operates at full capacity with tonnes of fresh fish, namely sardines, herring and mackerel

Despite many difficulties, this year's output has not decreased compared to previous years, the number of boats sailing out from Nghi Thuy is the same although the price of raw materials is increasing, deckhands are difficult to find and the fish colony is more exhausted. On the one hand, the skilled fishermen here know how to save money and catch more efficiently. “No matter what the situation is, we must continue fishing because it is the traditional job left behind by our ancestors. Moreover, it is necessary to create jobs for the fishermen, so that they have something to feed their families, thereby keeping their jobs, having a meal together ...” Bien happily said.

Grilled mackerel is an attractive specialty that tourists cannot resist their temptation once they are in Cua Lo coastal town

Nguyen Canh Quang, 58, in Block 6, Nghi Thuy Ward, has been attached to this fishing port for most of his life. It has become a custom, every day at 1 am he is at the fishing port. Quang said: “The work depends on fishing boats, 4-5 trips a day at a minimum, sometimes we have 15-20 trips a day. The work is not too hard, and the income is almost enough to support the family…”.