The men spend the night out in the sea and fish until dawn. Then the women take over in the early morning hours, sorting, weighing, cleaning, and selling the catch in the adjacent fish market at the wharf. Nothing goes to waste, and even what's considered waste is checked for usable goods. It's a strong-knit, hard-working community. The market usually attracts customers from restaurants, hotels, and locals nearby.

Much of the trash comes in from the sea itself, spat out by the waves. But the disposal on the mainland is also at will and not regulated.

Fish Sauce Factory

This traditional fish sauce factory, which is adjacent to the fish market, is operated by women only. Traditionally, men – fathers and sons – would sail and fish, and when they returned, their wives and daughters would wait for them at the wharf with baskets in their hands. So for generations, it has been the job of women and girls to make fish sauce, called Nước chấm in Vietnam. The anchovies deemed too small are sorted from the daily catch, cleaned, and weighed. Afterward, they are mixed with salt. Then the mixture is compressed, sealed in wooden barrels, and left under the sun for months. To protect themselves from the fumes coming from the barrels and the strainers, everyone, who works here, wears a face mask.

Despite the threats of industrial production, the women have no desire to stop producing Vietnam’s traditional fish sauce with centuries-old practices. After putting the anchovies-salt mix into wooden barrels for fermentation, the liquid is decanted through a small tap at the bottom every day and poured back into the container right away from the top to ensure it drips through layers of the fermented fish and distills out all the nutrition. After the first extraction of the virgin fermented liquid, saltwater that is brought in jerrycans is pumped into the barrels two to three times to distill the second and third grades of fish sauce.