Traditional fishing net knitting craft of the Cham community

According to Mr. Dong Son, Head of the Front Committee of the Cham Quarter, Lac Tanh town, we went to Mr. Thong Anh's house. He was knitting a casting-net. We were surprised that he still does this knitting net profession. Mr. Thong Anh quickly said: This profession has existed for a long time, it is a "hereditary profession". In the past, in this Cham town, there were many people knitting fishing nets, but now only his family still keeps them. Others only buy at store, they do not knit anymore. From a young age, Mr. Thong Anh often watched his father knitting and followed them to the river and stream to fishing. Anh has been doing fishing for 10 years. He made it for both using and selling. Most of the Cham people live mainly on farming. Men and women have many traditional occupations such as brocade weaving, fishing, hooves, etc. to earn extra income and daily food. Therefore, out of 360 households, about 70% of households casting-nets.

Knitting casting-net requires workers to be skillful, persistent, and meticulous to learn. When knitting, it is absolutely not allowed to make mistakes, because once it is faulty, it is difficult to unravel it. In the process of attaching the iron chain to the casting net, having a technique is necessary. Although each complete casting net is worth 1 million VND, of which the money to buy nets and iron chains to make is 500,000 VND. It takes  7 days to complete a beautiful casting net. It is only 70,000 VND per day for knitting nets.

Although the income is low, Mr. Thong Anh keeps the job and handles it down to his son. Avoid the loss of the fishing profession.

Translated by Uyen Linh (Source: Binh Thuan Newspaper)