Fishing out in the South China Sea

Deng Dayong, 54, fisherman and resident on Jinqing Island

I have been fishing since I was 15. I learned the skill from my father and he got it from his father. For many generations, my family has been fishing in the South China Sea.

I was born and raised in a fishing village in Tanmen township of Qionghai in Hainan. Being a fisherman is the fate of most people in my community, but it is strenuous and sometimes dangerous.

Eight years ago, my boat encountered a storm. The waves were at least 7 meters high, smashing on our deck. Four fishermen and I hid in the pilot house. The deck was rolling so hard that we had to hold on to something to avoid falling into the water, which means certain death.

For 10 hours, the time the storm lasted, nobody moved or even talked. Everyone's face was pale.

Since then, I've started to think about moving to an island closer to the fishing area. It takes about two days to sail from my home village to the fishing area in Xisha.

After years of sailing in the ocean, I am familiar with every islet in Xisha. For fishermen, islets are life-saving oases in the ocean.

Living on an island saves me some time but it wasn't easy, especially eight years ago. There was no electricity, no fresh water, nothing. We made box-shaped shelters with wooden boards. Without enough materials, the boxes were thin and fragile. But it was OK. After every typhoon, we had to make new boxes anyway. One time the wind ripped the walls off my shelter while I was in it. I had to run into other people's boxes. That was scary.

But now we have concrete houses, television sets and mobile signals.

Deng Dayong was talking to Peng Yining.