Over the past 20 years, a group of women in central Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa Province, including elderly and pregnant ones, have carried sharks from fishing boats onto freezing trucks to earn additional incomes.      Under the scorching sun, a group of some 30 women at Ninh Hai fishing port in Ninh Hoa town are lifting up a 400kg shark with poles.

According to 61-year-old Ngo Thi Thuong, the group’s oldest member, whenever shark-fishing boats come back from Hoang Sa, women from the town’s Thuy Dam Hamlet do the job to earn some more money.

The job is quite physically demanding, as ships typically bring home some tons of fish each, with a shark weighing several hundred kilograms.

“We’ve all got used to it, and we have no other choice,” said Nguyen Thi Kim Hoa, 36, who is four months pregnant.

As her husband is away on the fishing vessel, she joins other women in carrying sharks every week to add to their incomes.

Though the group has no leader, no hassles have broken out over wages or shares of the job.

Vo Thi Gai, 41, said that carriers are paid some VND50,000 (US$2.4), while those working on freezing trucks earn some VND10,000-20,000 more.

Despite the strenuous work, the women’s only protective clothing is casual hats, masks and gloves.

Lifting up sharks is among the several jobs which women in coastal towns typically perform to improve their incomes while their husbands and sons are away at sea.

Other jobs include preparing fish, distributing small fish, and peddling traditional delicacies.