Lesson 2: Changing regions without changing careers

(Baonghean) -The effectiveness of the job conversion process for fishermen has been clearly confirmed in practice. However, lack of capital, lack of skills, changing regions without actually changing jobs… are problems encountered during the implementation process, fishermen still “have difficulty limiting their ability”.

Improved economic efficiency

Currently, the whole province has more than 4,300 fishing vessels, of which in Dien Chau, half of the vessels are small capacity. In particular, there are nearly 700 vessels practicing trawling, which is a profession that operates on the shore and inshore and has a great impact on resources. Due to the rapid development of this profession, combined with the "destructive" exploitation method, non-compliance with regulations on mesh size, type of craft, use of explosives, electric shocks, etc., fishing resources are increasingly seriously declining. Low exploitation output, seafood quality, and preservation processes do not meet the criteria of many markets, so fishermen only sell products through unofficial channels. Faced with this situation, the requirement for fishermen to change their occupations from inshore to offshore areas, and to change some fishing occupations is becoming more and more urgent.

In Dien Ngoc commune (Dien Chau), some models of job conversion of fishermen have shown practical effectiveness. Mr. Thai Ba Anh, in Ngoc Minh hamlet (Dien Ngoc) started to change his job in June 2010. Previously, Mr. Anh had a 24CV boat, mainly fishing in the open sea using purse seine and trawl fishing. On average, each trip out to sea, his boat only caught about 2-3 quintals of seafood, of which 60% were trash fish, with low value. However, since changing his job by buying a new 90CV boat, switching to offshore fishing, both output and exploitation value have increased significantly. Mr. Anh said: “Since changing jobs, each trip out to sea has caught an average of 1-1.2 tons of seafood. The proportion of trash fish has decreased significantly, only 35%. Valuable seafood such as squid, mackerel, tuna ... are caught in greater quantities. The average income of the crew has increased, so everyone is eager to go to sea.” After changing jobs, Mr. Anh received 70 million VND in support from the State. From this amount, he has the conditions to buy more fishing gear to better meet the requirements when going out to sea.

Fishermen are in dire need of capital support to change their profession.

Similar to Mr. Anh, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan's household in Chien Thang hamlet (Dien Bich) has invested more than 500 million to replace a 24CV boat with a 105CV engine, switching from offshore fishing to offshore fishing. "More than 6 months since moving to offshore fishing, there has not been a single loss. The output has increased 5 times from 2-3 quintals before the conversion to 1-2 tons of seafood, valuable fish such as herring, anchovies... have also increased," said Mr. Tuan. Currently, in Dien Ngoc commune, there are 2 households, Thai Ba Tranh and Thai Ba Ky, who have completed their documents and are waiting for approval to receive support from the State for career conversion. According to Mr. Ky: "The amount of about 70 million VND is a source of encouragement and motivation from the State for fishermen like us."

In Dien Ngoc Commune, after some models of job conversion, the commune's seafood catch has increased. Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: "In 2010, the total catch of the whole commune reached 12,000 tons. But by November 2011, the total catch had increased to 13,000 tons. Of which, the number of trash fish had decreased to 35%, the number of exported fish had increased to 25% and the remaining 40% was market fish. People's lives have improved. In particular, the job conversion of some models has promoted the development of other industries such as seafood processing, ice... The commune has promoted people to convert small-capacity boats to large-capacity boats and mobilized ship owners to establish fishing cooperatives to support each other when going to sea."

Fishermen lack capital

Currently, the process of career conversion is facing a huge barrier, which is the difficulty in capital. If fishermen want to convert to offshore fishing, their fishing boats must have a capacity of 90CV or more. To invest in such a boat, fishermen must spend at least 450-500 million VND if they buy an old boat, and building a new one will cost more than 1 billion VND. According to Decision No. 10/2010/QD-UBND dated January 20, 2010 of the Provincial People's Committee, on supporting career conversion (from offshore to offshore) for fishermen is from 60-70 million VND/model. This is a modest amount compared to the capital that fishermen have to spend. Meanwhile, it is difficult to borrow money from banks, each time they can only borrow from 70-100 million VND.

Currently, the whole province has only 6 models (Quynh Luu: 1 model, Dien Chau: 3 models, Cua Lo Town: 2 models) that are completing their documents to wait for support. Meanwhile, in Dien Bich commune, the number of documents sent by fishermen to the commune is piling up. Dien Ngoc commune plans that by the end of 2012, 50% of the commune's boats will be converted to large capacity, capable of fishing in offshore areas. Unlike Quynh Luu district, because fishermen have the conditions, most of the boats are equipped with large capacity engines, and often fish in offshore areas, in Dien Chau, the lives of most fishermen are still difficult. Therefore, changing jobs cannot be done in a day or two.

Not only lacking capital, many fishermen lack the skills to operate machinery and lack knowledge of the Law of the Sea to take their ships far out to sea. Mr. Thai Ba Tranh confided: "Although I have been trained as a chief engineer and captain, I still encounter risks at sea due to lack of skills. Moreover, when fishing in the open sea, I often collide with other ships, especially Chinese ships." Despite investment, many fishing boats in the open sea lack essential fishing gear. Although Mr. Thai Ba Anh's boat has been converted to go out to sea for more than 5 months, it still does not have an ice chest to preserve fish. Or knowledge about rescue for crew members on board when an accident occurs has not been properly taken care of. Currently, hundreds of fishing boats and fishermen in Dien Chau district have not purchased insurance.

Discussing the issue of career change for fishermen, Mr. Hoang Van Bon, Deputy Head of the Department of Industry and Trade of Dien Chau district (a person who has worked in the fisheries sector for many years) shared: "Currently, fishermen have only changed regions but have not really changed their jobs". According to Mr. Bon, although the capacity of the vessels has been increased to over 90CV, moving from the inshore area to the offshore area, many fishermen still use the old trawling profession. From here, marine resources are increasingly depleted. Meanwhile, floating fishing is not a traditional profession of Dien Chau district. While the authorities have not been able to manage this issue, the awareness of fishermen has not improved.

“To effectively change fishermen’s careers, we must let them choose their own careers. Because only fishermen know what jobs are suitable for them. The State is responsible for building models, organizing training sessions, and tours for fishermen, and then letting fishermen find their own way. Through that, the State has appropriate policies to support fishermen,” said Mr. Bon.

Pham Bang