Hue fishermen sell 200 tons of clean fish in 3 days

Leaders of Thua Thien - Hue province ate seafood with the people and issued clean seafood certificates to dozens of offshore fishing boats.

On May 3, Mr. Phan Ngoc Tho, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thua Thien - Hue province, said that the province has directed functional agencies to organize seafood consumption points to ensure the origin. In addition to the safe seafood sales point at Co.op Mart Hue supermarket, the provincial Department of Industry and Trade is organizing consumption points for offshore caught fish at markets and other large supermarkets throughout the province.

Clean fish purchasing point for fishermen at Co.op Mart Hue supermarket. Photo: Dac Duc.

Specifically, to reassure people and create conditions for fishermen to go offshore, on the morning of May 2, the Department of Industry and Trade of Thua Thien - Hue organized a clean fish selling point at Co.opmart Hue supermarket, 0.5 tons of fish were sold out in a few hours. It is expected that this model will be replicated in the province's wholesale markets in the near future. In addition, Vice Chairman of the province Phan Ngoc Tho and directors of departments and branches ate seafood with people right at the clean fish selling point.

On the same day, a representative of the Thua Thien - Hue Fisheries Department also said that it had granted clean seafood certificates to 30 offshore fishing vessels in the area. All types of fish caught by fishermen are certified as clean seafood through providing clean sea coordinates for fishermen to exploit, and seafood when coming ashore is inspected and tested before being sold. Accordingly, more than 200 tons of fish caught by offshore fishing vessels were purchased by traders and supermarkets in 3 days of mobilizing fishermen to go offshore.

Meanwhile, Mr. Phan Van Thong, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thua Thien - Hue province, said that sampling is currently being carried out continuously in many coastal areas to serve tourism and aquaculture. Sampling is also very strict, and the results are sent to the General Department of Environment for comparison. The analysis results are all posted on the website of this department. "The analysis results of 10 indicators for the sample taken on April 30 show that all meet the permitted standards," Mr. Thong affirmed.

In addition, the People's Committee of Thua Thien - Hue province has decided to support rice and extend debt, support interest rates for fish purchasing units for consumption for 6 months; reduce interest, extend debt and write off debt for fishing boat owners. Specifically, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thua Thien - Hue province Nguyen Van Cao requested localities to count the damage and difficulties of fishermen to implement rice support for a period of one to 1.5 months with a support level of about 15kg per person. This budget is self-balanced by the locality.

Fishermen at Thuan An fishing port (Phu Vang district) are excited to go offshore when their seafood catch will have a stable place to sell. Photo: Dac Duc.

Previously, according to statistics on the damage caused by the fish deaths, Hue suffered a loss of about 11 billion VND in farmed fish, and the damage to the suspension of seafood fishing alone could not be calculated.

In Da Nang, on the morning of May 3, the Department of Agriculture opened 50 clean fish points at 50 markets. Many people believed in the sale and came to buy, thanks to which 4 tons of clean fish were sold out in just one morning. Many people who came to the market late had no fish left to buy.

Mr. Nguyen Do Tam, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Agriculture, said that seeing that clean fish sells well, the number of small traders registering to receive clean seafood to sell on the morning of May 4 increased 3 times compared to today. The Department will open more points of sale but is not sure whether there will be enough clean fish to supply.

Since the beginning of April, more than 70 tons of dead fish have washed ashore from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien - Hue, causing consumers to worry and not buy fish, making traders and fishermen more miserable. Da Nang has also seen scattered fish deaths. Leaders at the ministerial level and many localities have gone swimming and eating seafood to regain consumer confidence. The cause of the fish deaths is still under investigation.

According to VNE