Nghe An lacks maritime workers

Solutions to the labor shortage

Quynh Lap commune is the locality with the largest number of fishing boats in the province, with 205 boats, of which 165 are boats over 15m long. Thanks to the fishermen here having a lot of experience in the profession.fishingon the sea, so many years ago people here had a good income, creating jobs for most of the local workers.

However, since the beginning of 2022, ship owners in Quynh Lap commune have faced a serious labor shortage. The reason is that hundreds of seafarers have quit their jobs to work abroad or do other jobs.

Fishing boats in Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town) are always in a state of labor shortage. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Le Ba Kien in Tan Hai hamlet, Quynh Lap commune, owner of the sea fishing vessel NA 92886 TS, with an engine capacity of 580 CV, said that his vessel fished using a 4-pole seine net in the open sea. Previously, each trip out to sea, the vessel employed 12 workers, all fishing work was always smooth and operating at full frequency. However, in 2022, manyseafarersMany people go abroad to work and change to other jobs, some of the workers on his ship are among them. Due to the large number of workers leaving the sea, causing every ship owner to lack workers, so Mr. Kien's solution is to reduce the number of workers on the ship to 8 people.

Seafaring workers require fishing experience and not being seasick, so not just any worker can be employed. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Due to the lack of labor, each trip does not operate at full capacity. For example, before, each trip of Mr. Kien's boat caught 12 catches, but now it has decreased to 7-8 catches, causing the catch to decrease, while the fuel consumption does not decrease. "The seafaring profession has the characteristics of not being seasick and must have fishing experience, so it is impossible to use workers who have never been to sea before. This is a difficulty for boat owners when there is a labor shortage," Mr. Le Ba Kien shared.

The shortage of seafarers has forced a reduction in the number of workers on board, not only for Mr. Kien but also for most of the hundreds of shipowners in Quynh Lap commune. According to Mr. Le Ba Ky - Vice Chairman of Quynh Lap Commune People's Committee, from the beginning of 2022 until now, the commune has had 256 children working abroad. In addition, many children have switched to other jobs. Most of them were previously seafarers on local fishing boats. Therefore, Quynh Lap commune is currently short of 200 - 300 seafarers.

It is known that the salary of seafarers in the province is currently from 8 to 10 million VND/person/month. Photo: Xuan Hoang

The reason why hundreds of seafarers quit their jobs, Mr. Ky said, is due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years, high oil prices... leading to unstable income in the seafaring profession. "Although the current salary that ship owners pay is 8-10 million VND/person/month, workers are still not interested, because it depends on many factors that cause workers to have their salaries deducted. For example, if a trip encounters unfavorable weather and has to return halfway, leading to many days off that month, the ship owner will deduct their salary...", Mr. Le Ba Ky said.

Faced with the shortage of local seafarers, there is no other way but for ship owners to hire workers from other localities, or reduce the number of workers on board to maintain operations instead of keeping the ships on shore. Large capacity ships, which previously employed 13-15 people, now have 8-9 people. However, this affects the frequency of exploitation in each voyage, which previously could pull 15-20 batches, has reduced to 10-12 batches and the crew members have to work harder.

With the current number of fishing boats in Nghe An, it creates jobs for about 15,000 workers directly at sea. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Thuy - Head of Economic DepartmentHoang Mai townsaid: The shortage of marine workers has been happening in the coastal areas of Quynh Phuong and Quynh Lap for many months now, making the marine exploitation industry difficult. The solution to overcome the shortage of marine workers is for ship owners to reduce labor in the short term, but in the long term, it is necessary to install hydraulic winch systems on fishing vessels to reduce labor. However, because the investment cost for this system is quite high, from 350 - 400 million VND/vehicle, it is difficult for fishermen to invest.

About 15,000 maritime workers are needed.

Quynh Luu district has also been facing a shortage of seafarers for a long time. According to Mr. Bui Xuan Truc - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district, the shortage of seafarers has been happening in the localities in recent years. A long-term solution is that ship owners need to invest in installing hydraulic winch systems to reduce labor at sea. However, currently, the number of ships installed with hydraulic winch systems is not much.

"The Provincial People's Council also issued Resolution No. 18/2021/NQ-HDND on agricultural support policies, including support for fishermen to install hydraulic winch systems. However, because the cost to invest in a hydraulic winch system is up to 400 million VND/system, while the support level is 30% of the cost, fishermen are not very interested," said Mr. Bui Xuan Truc.

Marine exploitation also creates jobs for thousands of indirect workers. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Chu Quoc Nam - Deputy Head of Nghe An Fisheries Department said: Through understanding the situation in localities, it shows that the shortage of seafarers is widespread, due to workers going abroad to work, or working on domestic transport vessels, or switching to other jobs. The reason why workers leave the sea fishing profession is because the income of fishing vessels has been unstable in recent times. The lack of seafarers has affected the seafood exploitation situation in localities.

With the number of fishing boats ofNghe AnCurrently, there are over 3,400 fishing vessels, of which 1,221 operate offshore, specializing in fishing with purse seines, trawls, grab nets, gillnets and line fishing. To ensure fishing vessels operate, the whole province needs about 15,000 direct workers at sea; in addition, it also creates jobs for thousands of indirect workers on shore.