Building new fishing vessels under Decree 67/CP - Difficulty in accessing capital.

(Baonghean.vn) - Continuing its work program in Nghe An, on the morning of March 25th, the Monitoring Delegation of the National Assembly Standing Committee, led by Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien - Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee and Head of the National Assembly's Committee on Citizen Petitions, held a working session with the People's Committee of Dien Chau district regarding the resolution of difficulties in production and the lives of fishermen. Also attending the working session were representatives from the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, the Fisheries Resource Protection Sub-Department, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Ms. Hoang Thi Huong, Vice Chairperson of the Dien Chau District People's Committee, spoke at the working session.

Dien Chau district has a coastline over 25km long, mainly flat beaches, with one estuary and eight coastal communes. The total number of fishing vessels in the district is 1406, of which 135 (9.6%) have a capacity of over 90 horsepower, 464 (33%) have a capacity of 20-90 horsepower, and 807 (57.3%) have a capacity of under 20 horsepower, mainly concentrated in Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich communes. The average income of fishermen is approximately 20-25 million VND per person per year. The average income of workers specializing in fishing on boats is about 5-6 million VND per person, while onshore workers earn 3-4 million VND per month, depending on the season.

In addition to support policies from the central and provincial governments, since 2013, the district has implemented a policy to support the construction of new fishing vessels with engines exceeding 90 horsepower, providing 20 million VND per vessel over two years. As a result, an additional 40 vessels with engines exceeding 90 horsepower have been added to the district. Furthermore, the district has also focused on and supported the establishment of a maritime militia platoon and a fishermen's union.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Hien - Head of the National Assembly's Committee on Citizen Petitions, Head of the Supervisory Delegation, delivered a speech.

Current difficulties include the fact that although the area has a estuary, it is frequently silted up, hindering and causing accidents for passing vessels, especially those with a capacity of 90 horsepower or more. The fishing fleet with a capacity of 20-72 horsepower, engaged in trawling for snails and shrimp, faces many difficulties due to daily wage labor, increasingly depleted offshore fishing grounds, and crop failures; fishermen face difficulties accessing bank loans to build new fishing vessels under Decree 67 (out of 7 households in the district registered to build new vessels, only 1 household has switched to building wooden vessels and has accessed bank loans, but has not yet received disbursement); fishing logistics services are still poor; and salt farmers have unstable incomes…

During the meeting, the leaders of Dien Chau district proposed several issues to the supervisory delegation, including: specific solutions to ensure that banks seriously implement Government Decree 67 so that state policies truly become a leverage for fishermen; and support for solutions to upgrade and clear the Van Lach estuary to ensure safety for ships entering and exiting…

The head of the Dien Chau district's agricultural department reported on the production situation and living conditions of fishermen in the area.

Overview of the working session

Concluding the working session, Comrade Nguyen Duc Hien highly appreciated the efforts of Dien Chau district in resolving the difficulties of fishermen, especially the issuance of a specific support policy for fishermen building new boats. He also requested the district to develop concrete solutions to improve fisheries logistics services; train human resources (captains, engineers, crew members, etc.); support vocational retraining; and pay more attention to the lives of salt farmers. Regarding the district's recommendations and proposals, the supervisory delegation acknowledged and compiled them for submission to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for the Government to consider and resolve.

This afternoon, the delegation conducted a field survey of the living conditions of fishermen in several coastal communes in the district.

Khanh Ly