‘Chip chip,’ a Vietnamese onomatopoeia for the chirping sounds of birds, is what local Vietnamese call black-and-white hard-shell clams native to the Han River and the Gulf of Da Nang. This is a popular dish being served in both luxurious restaurants and streetside eateries in the city.

Every day, hundreds of fishermen from Nai Hien Dong and Tho Quang wards in Son Tra District, and from Tam Thuan and Xuan Ha wards in Thanh Khe District, flock to the Han River to hunt the type of hard-shell clams.

Due to the increase in demand for chip chips in the city, fishermen can earn high income from the hunting of chip chips. However, divers can face dangerous risks as their bodies are submerged in water for extended periods of time.

Let’s have a look at some photos, captured by our reporter Phan Chung, to learn about the hunting of this species.

Every day, dozens of fishing boats gathering at the mouth of the Han River to hunt chip chips

Each vessel has between 3 and 5 people onboard

To dive deep into the sea, each fisherman must wear a lead wire weighing between 8 and 12 kilos

Divers wear such diving equipment as diving glasses, footwear, and gloves, especially a diving suit at the price of between 2 and 3 million VND to help keep their body dry during dive.

The ‘life buoy’ of a chip chip diver is a 200m-long breathing tube which is attached to his mouth and directly connected to the ship.

A diver resting on the water after an hour of underwater diving

35-year-old fisherman Ho Van Cuong residing in Son Tra District’s Nai Hien Dong Ward introducing our reporter to how to scratch chip chips on seabed

Divers collect between 2 and 3 kilos of chip chips after the 90-120 minute-lasting diving

Apart from divers, there is a person who is responsible for keeping breathing tubes for divers in order to ensure that the tubes are not bent. In the picture, 16-year-old Le Hoang Phu from Nai Hien Dong Ward pulling a breathing tube for chip chip divers with a daily wage of 300,000 VND.

Each fishman collects a daily average of 7 and 10 kilos of chip chips

Fishermen having lunch on their boat.