Located along the waterfront in Cao Xanh ward, a wholesale fish market near Ha Long Bay comes alive at midnight as fishing boats arrive one after another to unload their catches.
Workers keep fish and shrimp alive in aerated tanks, sort the seafood on-site and quickly trade their catches right on the dock.
By around 4 to 5 a.m., traders load the seafood onto motorcycles and specialized trucks for delivery to local markets, ensuring fresh catches reach consumers later that morning.
Throughout the night, vendors work for hours beside tubs of fish, using baskets to handpick those that meet customers’ size requirements.Ha Long’s early-morning fish market was previously located behind Ha Long 1 Market before being relocated to the fishing port in Cao Xanh ward as part of an urban planning initiative. Operating on a schedule opposite to the rest of the city, the market comes alive around 1 a.m. and serves as Quang Ninh city's largest seafood wholesale market.
Between 1 and 2 a.m., fishing boats arrive one after another at the dock, marking the market’s busiest hours as crews unload their freshly caught seafood.Most of the live seafood is loaded directly onto specialized trucks equipped with oxygen supply systems for long-distance transport to destinations such as Hai Phong, Hai Duong and Hanoi.The freshly landed seafood is immediately sorted into large tubs by type and size... to fulfill different wholesale and retail orders.
Ha Long fish market handles large quantities of live fish, with aeration systems running at full capacity to keep them alive throughout the overnight trading session.Together with live fish kept in aerated tubs, freshly netted species such as scad and mackerel are packed in ice in specialized plastic trays to preserve their freshness.As dawn approaches, more local residents and early-morning shoppers arrive at the dock to buy freshly caught seafood directly from fishing boats at wholesale prices.The market reaches its busiest period between 3 and 4 a.m., with traders buying, selling, weighing and transporting seafood in a flurry of activity.Two vendors catch a rare moment of rest after hours of work.
Just before 5 a.m., trucks begin leaving the port, carrying fresh seafood to local markets and restaurants before the city wakes up to a new day.
