Just about 8km northeast of Da Nang’s centre, the Tho Quang fishing village in Son Tra District is proud of the solidarity among its local residents.  In addition, villagers are honest and live in harmony with nature.  They all feel very happy when they bring home bumper catches.

All of the village’s men go offshore fishing and their wives help their husbands to take their seafood catches to markets for sale.  The villagers depend directly on fishing activities for their livelihood.

Like other craft villages in Viet Nam, the skilled local villagers make their own fishing tackle to help them to catch more fish.  In spite of all the difficulties and challenges in their lives, the villagers show solidarity and support for each other.  The local fishermen help each other while fishing at sea in situations of bad weather or other dangers.  Although they have a habit of talking loudly, they are hard-working, gentle, honest, friendly, kind and helpful people.

Tho Quang Fishing Village

Fishing is a dangerous job and fishermen often work under extreme conditions at sea.  Therefore, various events are held every year in the village to show the local fishermen’s strong desire for safe offshore fishing trips, with bumper catches.  These include the whale worship cult, and the annual “Cau Ngu” festival.  The events feature a number of solemn traditional rituals to pray for happiness and prosperity throughout the year, as well as for a safe and profitable fishing season.

Pulling in a fishing net

The start of a fishing trip

Bringing home tiny shrimps

Apart from being involved in fishing activities, the Tho Quang fishing village is also well-known for its fish sauce-making.  It is very famous for many types of mam (salted fish) such as mam nem (a type of fish sauce, made from small fish or small shrimps) and mam ruoc (fermented shrimp paste).  In particular, the village’s mam ruoc is very popular with the city’s people.  The mam products are an indispensable dipping sauce with the daily meals of residents in the central region.