Northern fish harvest season

(Baonghean) - This year’s Northern fish season is considered the “golden season” for Nghe An fishermen. These days, fishermen from Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai, Dien Chau… are bustling out to sea to welcome the “blessings of the sea”.

At Lach Con fishing port, Quynh Lap ward, Hoang Mai town, seeing boats bustling to dock, the fishermen's faces beaming with joy as their holds were full of fish. Mr. Le Ba Kien in Dong Tam hamlet, the owner of a 410-horsepower boat, was directing workers to transport fish ashore, excitedly saying: The Northern fish season is from October to the end of March next year. This season, the weather is warmer than last year, so we can organize many trips out to sea during the month.

Bustling trading scene at Quynh Phuong fishing wharf Bustling trading scene at Quynh Phuong fishing wharf

Because we have a large capacity ship, we go offshore for 5-7 days, all the way to Co To Island (Quang Ninh), each trip catches 12-15 tons of fish, of which anchovies account for over 80%. After deducting expenses, each trip has 12 workers, earning 4-5 million VND/person/trip.

Mr. Le Ba Ky, Chairman of the Commune Farmers' Association and Vice Chairman of the Quynh Lap Fisheries Association, added: This year's Northern fish crop is very good, averaging nearly 2,200 tons/month, an increase of 200 tons/month compared to the same period last year. Due to the advantage of large ships and large engines, 100% of the ships and boats fish in distant fishing grounds, with abundant fish resources.

In the last days of the 10th lunar month, we arrived early at Lach Con fishing port, witnessing the bustling scene of buyers and sellers on the port and on the boats, the joy of "winning" fish of the fishermen, driving away all the hardships. The NA 93272 ship of fisherman Nguyen Van Sy had just docked. The crew members on board were hurriedly transferring fish from the cold storage on board to sell to traders.

Red snapper for export is a type of fish that has been harvested in large quantities in recent days by fisherman Quynh Phuong.

This trip lasted less than 10 days, but the output was up to 4 tons, most of which were export fish such as grouper, mullet, pickled fish, and cuttlefish. Mr. Sy said: "This trip my boat caught more than 4 tons, all the fish caught were delicious, the total revenue was 120 million, everyone was very excited, this year's Northern crop is much better."

Not only Mr. Sy's boat, but also most of the fishing boats in Quynh Phuong have a big catch at the end of the year, especially high-value fish. Some boats spend a week to 10 days fishing, catching 4 to 5 tons of various types of fish, of which 90% are exported, earning 100 to 150 million VND, each worker earns 6 million VND/trip. Although there are still 2 months of fishing before the end of the year, there are boats like Mr. Sy's boat, Mr. Hong Son's boat, Mr. Ho Van Son's boat, where the income of workers in the fishing industry has reached 80 to 90 million VND/person.

Fisherman Nguyen Van Long, Ai Quoc block, Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town excitedly said: "In addition to the professional share of 5 million, I also got an additional 2 million from squid fishing. Generally, fishermen like us, in addition to pulling the net with the whole boat, earn from 500 thousand to 1 million VND per shift, and from 2 to 3 million VND for each shift. The total income can be 7 or 8 million VND in 10 days."

In recent days, Tien Thuy fishermen have had a good harvest of hairtail fish for export. Photo: Viet Hung

The richness of exploited products is the result of the bold innovation and introduction of many occupations by fishermen in Hoang Mai town. Currently, on one boat, people have acquired from 2 to 3 occupations, many new occupations with high economic efficiency such as: goat fishing, melon net, pink net, crab ball, sam net... so the annual exploitation output always increases, the average income of the sea profession reaches 70 - 80 million VND, the ship owners earn from 300 - 400 million VND/year.

In addition, fishermen have boldly invested in and applied modern machinery to exploitation such as positioning devices, fish finders, walkie-talkies, invested funds, purchased large ships, large machines to go offshore, go far, and master the fishing grounds. The owners of the vessels have also united to establish fishing teams at sea, shared information with each other about fishing grounds, and promptly supported each other when necessary. In particular, in recent years, the State has had many policies in prioritizing support for fishermen to develop the marine economy, creating favorable conditions for loans to build ships according to Decree 67, training captains, chief engineers, training on maritime and island laws, etc.

Transferring fish from ship to shore for consumption at Quynh Phuong fishing port.

Dien Ngoc commune currently has 383 boats, with a capacity of 90-450 CV, and an annual output of over 13,600 tons of seafood. Particularly, the northern fish season from October 2015 to present has reached 1,500 tons/month (an increase of 150-200 tons/month compared to the same period). The northern fish season is a big hit, creating favorable conditions for the development of fishing logistics, such as after the ships dock at the port, traders (mainly women) flock to quickly approach and purchase on the spot, further encouraging fishermen to go out to sea early.

Not to mention that in Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich, there are over 10 ice production facilities serving fish-preserving boats. In craft villages, Van Phan Fish Sauce Joint Stock Company and 3 fish meal grinding facilities in Dien Ngoc commune consume tens of thousands of tons of seafood each year, produce nearly 10 million liters of fish sauce, 7,000 tons of shrimp paste and dozens of tons of dried seafood to serve the market in and outside the province and also for export. Since the beginning of the year, Dien Chau has exploited 36,000 tons of seafood of all kinds, of which the Northern fish crop alone reaches 3,400-3,600 tons/month.

In Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, and Cua Lo, the amount of raw materials needed to process Tet products is generally increasing, so fishermen are excited.

Fish are preserved and prepared for consumption.

The output of seafood exploitation and catching from the beginning of the year to date in the whole province has reached over 110,000 tons, an increase of 7% over the same period (the Northern fish crop alone has reached about 70,000 tons). According to Mr. Tran Huu Tien, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture, the reason for the increase in fish output compared to last year is because the province is gradually reducing nearshore exploitation and developing offshore exploitation. Currently, the whole province has more than 3,968 ships, of which ships with a capacity of over 90CV have increased to 1,300. Offshore exploitation not only increases output but also improves the efficiency of the fishing profession, brings product value, and is closely linked to the protection of aquatic resources for the province's sea areas.

To develop fishing logistics services, ensuring good service for ships to confidently go out to sea, fishermen expect to accelerate the dredging of Lach Thoi (Son Hai, Quynh Luu) to facilitate ships entering and exiting. In addition, the State needs to continue investing in dredging and clearing Lach Van in Dien Chau, Lach Con, Lach Quen, Quynh Luu ...

Van Truong - Nguyen Van