Cua Lo: Seafaring profession gives fishermen an income of 10-15 million VND per month

Stick to the sea, stick to the fishing grounds

Just returned from a sea trip, boat owner Vo Van Phuc in Binh Minh block,Nghi Thuy ward, along with the crew members excited when they "won big" with shrimp, fish, squid filling the hold (about 10 tons), sold right at the dock for 250 million VND. After deducting expenses, each person also earned a few million VND. Mr. Phuc said: "It is the Southern fish season, the main fishing season of the year for fishermen. Thanks to the stable market and high selling prices, fishermen have a stable income, on average each 3-5 day sea trip, each person also "pocketed" millions of VND".

Bustling Nghi Thuy fishing port. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In early January 2021, two fishermen in Yen Dinh block, Nguyen Van Hai and Nguyen Dinh Phuong, invested tens of billions of VND to build four ships with a capacity of 1,100 CV. After 3 months of launching offshore, the fishing efficiency was clearly visible. Fisherman Nguyen Van Hai said: "The ships are large and go offshore, so the fishing efficiency is higher. Each trip at sea also brings in 30-50 million VND, creating stable jobs for 5-7 crew members." In addition, fisherman Nguyen Dinh Ha is investing 16 billion VND to build two new offshore fishing ships with an engine capacity of 1,500 CV/ship, expected to be put into operation in the middle of this year.

“Seafood exploitation and processing is the main occupation of local people. In the past, people often fished close to shore, mainly using trawl nets, hooks and line fishing with small capacity boats. In the past 5 years, they have switched to building large boats with large engines to go offshore, fishing for long periods at sea, bringing high yields and good income.”

Mr. Vo Van Tuat - Party Secretary, Chairman of Nghi Thuy Ward People's Council

Nghi Thuy ward fishermen unload seafood from boats. Photo: Hai Vuong

Up to now, Nghi Thuy ward has 120 boats of all kinds, including 44 offshore fishing boats with a capacity of 745 - 1,100 CV. In the first 3 months of 2021 alone, Nghi Thuy ward's catch reached over 3,000 tons, worth about 70 billion VND, bringing income to 700 seafarers of about 10-15 million VND/person/month.
Mr. Vo Van Ly - Head of Economic Department, People's Committee of Cua Lo town said: Although accounting for a small proportion, fishing plays an important role in developing Cua Lo town's marine economy. In recent times, the town has invested in building and completing infrastructure to serve the development of fishing: Upgrading and expanding Cua Hoi fishing port with a total cost of over 107 billion VND; renovating fishing ports and fishing wharves in Nghi Hai and Nghi Thuy wards; supporting 30 million VND for fishing households investing in building new fishing boats from 400 CV to under 700 CV and supporting 50 million VND for boats from 700 CV or more...

The town's goal is to gradually shift from offshore exploitation to offshore fishing, offshore fishing with large ships and large machines, contributing to rapidly increasing fishing output and creating jobs for fishermen.

Over the past 5 years, the entire town has built 20 new large-capacity ships, increasing the number of large-capacity ships operating offshore from 23 in 2016 to 53 in 2021; catch output increased from 11,000 tons in 2016 to 16,000 tons in 2020, creating jobs for nearly 2,000 local workers.

Nghi Thuy fish market is bustling with buyers and sellers. Photo: Hai Vuong

Forming a seafood production, processing and consumption chain

The development of the fishing industry, the increase in catch and the availability of many delicious seafood have encouraged people to expand services, invest in processing and form a chain of links in seafood consumption. In Nghi Hai ward alone, there are currently 54 cold storages with a total capacity of 8,200 tons. From these cold storages, seafood is exported to the northern provinces and to China, creating jobs for 765 workers and contributing greatly to the local budget revenue.
In addition, Nghi Hai ward also has a grilled mackerel association that operates quite effectively. Grilled mackerel products are chosen by domestic and foreign tourists and consumers and are an important product in the strategy of developing Cua Lo tourism brand.

Visitors to Nghi Hai fish sauce village. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Truong Nhu Duong - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghi Hai Ward (Cua Lo Town) said: "Currently, in addition to the Hai Giang 1 fish sauce craft village, there are 3 fish sauce processing companies and dozens of establishments processing grilled mackerel, squid rolls, and shrimp. In particular, the ward has 3 products recognized as meeting OCOP standards. It is expected that in the period of 2021-2025, 5 more OCOP-starred products will be built and the stars will be upgraded for the products that have met the standards. From there, we will build a brand, expand market share and create a closed chain from exploitation to processing and consumption of seafood, increasing economic value".

In Nghi Thuy ward, there have been many policies to support and encourage fishermen to develop fishing logistics. Currently, the whole ward has 195 seafood purchasing and processing establishments and 1 seafood exploitation and processing village with an output of up to 1,000 tons, creating regular jobs and stable income for over 650 workers. The seafood purchasing and processing establishments have built a brand of high-quality seafood products such as: fish sauce, shrimp paste, shrimp paste and dried fish, shrimp...

Nghi Hai fish sauce processing village. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Implementing the Project "Exploiting and processing seafood associated with craft village products in the period of 2016-2020", the town currently has 3 seafood processing craft villages and 1 grilled mackerel association; hundreds of seafood purchasing and processing establishments, creating jobs for 1,500 local workers with an income of about 70 million VND/person/year, revenue from seafood processing in 2020 reached 702 billion VND.