Fishing boats in central Vietnam in desperate shortage of divers

Each locality has a different style of fishing in the East Vietnam Sea.

Those from Nui Thanh District of Quang Nam Province in the central part are good at fishing cuttlefish, while fishers from the south-central province of Binh Dinh are experienced in casting nets in water areas a thousand meters deep.

And Quang Ngai fishermen are only skillful at diving to catch fish with three-pronged pitchforks.

Recently, divers have been hard to come by in Quang Ngai due to the dangers offshore so tens of fishing boats now dock ashore over a lack of workforces.

Most experienced divers have taught themselves the skills and thus often fail to apply safety methods.

Over 50 divers in Binh Son District have become disabled following diving accidents.

“It is very dangerous. You may die any time during diving,” said veteran diver Nguyen Thanh Nam, 52, who could dive at a depth of 40m with just a diving suit.

“In my working age, tens of my diving colleagues have died because of sudden changes in deep water pressure.”

Scouting for divers nationwide

Residents of Ganh Ca Village in Binh Son District are always proud that all male adults ‘master’ the seabed of Hoang Sa like the back of their hand and know the currents of the waters and terrain underwater in different weather conditions.

But now Quang Ngai does not have enough divers for the fishing work.

According to a survey of the Binh Chau People’s Committee, the commune had 70 divers in 2012 but that number goes down to only 30 this year.

It takes time to train a diver, many Binh Chau divers said, adding that the training is mostly based on experience.

To become a diver, a person must be very good at swimming.

To add more weight for trainee divers to quickly go down to the depth of five meters, lead pieces are attached to their body.

At that depth, those who hear ringing sounds in their ears are advised to surface and choose another occupation.

Those who pass the first test and are able to dive around ten times a day at a depth of ten meters can head toward the fishing ground in Hoang Sa, a two-day-and-two-night sail from the mainland.

A diver must stay calm while dealing with unexpected problems at sea because “a state of panic will make him fall into another accident of deep water pressure.”

Over ten fishing boats of Binh Chau cannot go offshore despite suitable weather conditions and they have to dock at Sa Ky Port at the moment.

Ly Son, an island district of Quang Ngai, also has tens of other fishing boats anchored at ports to wait for new divers to be recruited, according to Pham Thi Huong, vice chairwoman of the People’s Committee of the district.

Fishing boat owners in Binh Son have to travel to coastal fishing villages from the north to the south to look for divers. Each fishing boat needs around ten divers.

But divers have become a ‘rarity’ even in famous fishing villages like Ninh Hoa in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, Hoai Nhon in Binh Dinh, and Phu Quoc in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

“Divers are now like kings,” said Nguyen Chi Thanh, the owner of a fishing boat in Quang Ngai. “We must satisfy their requirements to keep them at work.”

Some owners even have to pay VND5 million (US$222) as a ‘sign-on bonus’ to secure divers’ agreement to work.