Oil prices down, Nghe An fishermen confident to go offshore, stick to the sea

Crew members transport seafood to shore for consumption. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Fishing ports of Lach Quen (Quynh Luu), Quynh Phuong (Hoan Mai Town), Lach Van (Dien Chau)... in late April became more bustling with seafood trading.

According to fishermen, the catch is not high this time, but they are still happy because oil prices have dropped sharply, along with positive signs from the Covid-19 epidemic being controlled nationwide.

Fisherman To Thi, owner of the NA 91572 TS ship in Tien Thuy commune (Quynh Luu), boasted: His mid-April fishing trip caught 1.4 tons of squid and more than 1 ton of mackerel, worth nearly 200 million VND. After deducting all expenses for 7 days at sea, he still made a profit of 100 million VND. This trip, his ship caught more than 3 tons of squid and various types of fish, earning more than 100 million VND. The old fisherman Thi shared that the squid was caught offshore and boiled right on the ship to keep it fresh. When transported to shore, traders competed to buy it at prices ranging from 100,000 - 120,000 VND/kg.

Fishermen said that each long sea trip is profitable, due to the sharp drop in oil prices. Photo: Xuan Hoang

At the fishing port of Lach Van - Dien Chau, fishermen are still actively staying at sea. Old fisherman Le Duc Thu in Dien Ngoc commune said that his boat has a capacity of 90 CV, due to the sharp drop in oil prices, which has helped him save millions of dong in costs on each trip compared to before. Therefore, even though seafood prices have decreased compared to before, all of Thu's crew members are still staying at sea.

Ship owners said that fuel prices have dropped sharply at this time, so even though fish prices have dropped, fishermen are still actively going to sea because the cost of each trip has been reduced a lot. “The price of fuel is only over 10,000 VND/liter, while previously the price of fuel for ships was up to 17,000 VND/liter. Each offshore fishing boat has to fill up from 3,000 to 4,000 liters of oil. If before, when oil prices were still high, purse seine boats had to spend up to 120 million VND on each longer trip, now it is only 900 million VND, or even lower.”

Seafood is purchased by traders right at the port. Photo: Xuan Hoang

According to Mr. Chu Van Tan - Head of Lach Quen Fishing Port, for the past month, most of the boats that regularly anchor in the fishing port area have gone out to sea to fish. Although the fish output is not very large, the price of oil has dropped sharply, so fishermen have made a profit.

Nghe An currently has 3,510 fishing boats, of which 1,593 have engines of over 90 CV, with nearly 20,000 workers directly fishing at sea. The fact that people are increasing their fishing activities at this time, in addition to creating jobs for crew members, also contributes to preserving the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.