Reviving Quynh Long fishing industry

(Baonghean) -Quynh Long fishermen have known since birth to rely on the sea for their livelihood. However, there were times when fishermen went bankrupt and could not make a living from their traditional profession. After much concern, the local Party Committee and government finally decided to “open the way” and join hands with fishermen to revive the “fishing” profession.

Party's "source" of revival

When it comes to the coastal district of Quynh Luu, just ask Quynh Long commune and everyone will be amazed at the achievements of this locality in developing the marine economy. 23 fishing groups (5-7 boats per group) regularly go offshore to catch fish, bringing back full holds of fish, bringing high economic efficiency, fundamentally changing the face of the local countryside. This change comes from the policy of the Commune Party Committee more than 5 years ago, which is to mobilize and work side by side with fishermen to build large boats to go offshore, abandoning the traditional offshore areas. Going back to the time before 2007, Quynh Long had more than 300 means of catching seafood, but "divining" which offshore fishing boats were like "looking for a needle in a haystack". “At that time, fishermen only fished near the shore (offshore), so economic efficiency was not high, poverty was inevitable. Many fishermen had to quit their jobs and go to the South and the North to work as laborers to earn a living,” Mr. Tran Quang Ve - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Long commune recalled.

Seeing that fishermen, despite their wealth of experience, had to abandon their jobs and go far away to make a living, the Party Committee and the commune government discussed and struggled to find a way to revive the local traditional profession. Many delegations organized by the commune mobilized fishermen who were still passionate about their profession to travel to Thanh Hoa and the southern provinces to learn and study the model of fishermen from other provinces. Finally, the chosen solution was to build large ships with large engines to go far offshore and fish for long periods of time in order to revive the profession. Many nights, commune officials went to each hamlet to meet and mobilize people to join hands to build ships to stay at sea. Boldly investing, large-capacity ships of Quynh Long fishermen gradually appeared at Lach Quen fishing port. Each successful return trip of the brave fishermen who went before was a motivation for those who were still hesitant. Old fisherman Nguyen Van Tang in Phu Lien hamlet shared: "Although we still face many difficulties in the process of going out to sea and sticking to the sea, in general, since switching to a larger ship, our business has been better than before, and our income from each trip is much more stable and regular than before."

Bustling trading atmosphere at Lach Quen port

After only 4 years, the structure of Quynh Long's vessels has changed completely. In 2011, the number of vessels decreased to 164 but the capacity was up to 18,887 CV, of which 77 vessels had a capacity of 90 CV or more, mainly vessels from 200 - 750 CV. The catch of each vessel now reaches an average of 40 - 45 tons per month, helping Quynh Long fishermen to make a living. This has also proven the right move of the Party Committee, the government and the fishermen of the commune. The whole Quynh Long now has 1,500 workers working in jobs related to seafood exploitation and processing, of which about 1,000 workers directly work at sea. “People in my commune no longer go to the South or North to make a living, but return to work locally. Not to mention fishermen from other localities also come here to work. The average income of each worker is 5-7 million VND/month. Fishing accounts for nearly 60% of the commune’s economic structure,” Mr. Ve happily said.

And there is still concern

The role of the Party Committee and each Party member in contributing to the revival of the local fishing industry is clear. However, for Party members and those who work in the local Party, there are still many concerns. That is the reality that the ratio of Party members to the total population is still too low, while the average age of Party members in the Commune Party Committee is getting higher and higher. According to statistics, the Commune Party Committee has only 212 Party members, operating in 11 Party cells (8 rural Party cells, 3 school Party cells, medical stations), 12 Party members directly go to sea, 42 is the average age of Party members. The reason for this situation is that the source of elite people, especially among fishermen, is very limited.

Phu Lien Party Cell has 19 party members, 3 of whom go to sea. This is one of the party cells with a relatively high proportion of party members going to sea compared to the other party cells. However, in reality, only 1 party member regularly goes to sea, the other 2 party members only go to sea occasionally. Party member with 43 years of membership - Tran Trong Tham, of Phu Lien Party Cell, said: "A few years ago, I used to go to sea regularly, but recently I hardly go, so I have more opportunities to participate in Party activities. In the past, there were times when the ship could not reach shore, so there were times when I could not participate in Party cell activities."

Although the number of party members working at sea is very small, Phu Lien Party Cell still regularly organizes activities around the 10th to 15th lunar month every month. Because during this time the moon rises, many fishing boats are on shore, and fishermen who are party members have the opportunity to participate in activities with the Party Cell. This is also a common practice of rural Party Cells in Quynh Long. Female Secretary of Phu Lien Party Cell - Tran Thi Dao shared: “Regarding the time of Party Cell activities, we can still arrange for Party members working at sea to participate. But the most difficult problem is finding the next generation to train and admit into the Party. In 2011, the Party Cell set a target of admitting 2 new Party members but did not admit anyone. In 2012, we also set a similar target and only admitted 1 Party member, and are training 3 other people, all of whom are young people working on shore and not participating in going to sea.”

The difficulty in the source of party members in Phu Lien Party Cell is also a common difficulty of other rural party cells in Quynh Long Commune. The reason is that very few fishermen meet the criteria for joining the Party, specifically the criteria for cultural level, and partly because the awareness of a part of the people is still low. "Although many fishermen are good at business and are typical of economic development, they cannot be trained and admitted to the Party because they do not meet the criteria for cultural level," said Mr. Vu Ngoc Luong - Secretary of the Commune Party Committee. Also due to the difficulty in the source, the target of admitting new party members of the Commune Party Committee was not achieved. In 2011, the target was to admit 10 new party members but only 6 were admitted; in 2012, the target remained the same but up to now, only 5 new party members have been admitted.

It is possible to affirm the role of the Party Committee and each Party member in the economic development, guiding the direction for social organizations to carry out many mutual support movements when fishermen are in trouble... in Quynh Long. However, in the work of building and developing grassroots Party organizations, there is still much to do to successfully implement the goal set forth in the Resolution of the Commune Party Committee: "Determining economic development as the focus, Party building as the key".

Thanh Duy