Fishermen cry out for lack of places to anchor their boats

(Baonghean.vn) - MAlthough some facilities have been upgraded and repaired,The system of fishing ports, fishing wharves, and storm shelters in Nghe An is currently not uniform. During the rainy and stormy season, fishermen in many localities in the province face difficulties due to lack of places to anchor their boats.

Boats crowded together at Lach Quen in Quynh Thuan commune, Quynh Luu

Lach Van fishing port is a storm shelter for more than 700 large and small boats of Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich communes (Dien Chau). Although the embankment has just been upgraded to a length of more than 300 meters, the scale is still small, only meeting the needs of over 60% of the number of boats.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of Dien Ngoc Commune People's Committee, said: Due to the narrow anchorage area, after the storm, there are usually about 10-12 boats damaged due to collision with each other.

During the recent storm No. 3, nearly 20 boats in Dien Ngoc had to take shelter in other provinces because the shelter at Lach Van port was too crowded.

To reduce the load on Lach Van area, Nam Thinh hamlet residents are currently proposing to the Commune People's Committee to contribute funds to temporarily build a stone embankment about 300 meters along the shore. The Commune People's Committee is continuing to survey to build an additional anchorage and fishing logistics area in Trung Thanh hamlet with a length of about 40 meters.

Lach Quen area, Quynh Thuan commune, fishing port is silted up, making it difficult for boats to anchor.

Similarly, at Lach Thoi fishing port, Quynh Luu, due to lack of anchorage, some fishermen have found flat land along the creek to anchor. But the bare land has no shelter from storms, so many boats are pushed aside.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh, Head of the Quynh Luu Agriculture Department, said: Quynh Luu currently has over 1,300 large and small boats, with two fishing ports, Lach Quen and Lach Thoi, which have not been invested in a synchronous manner. The fishing ports are too crowded to meet the need for anchoring when taking shelter from storms. Currently, the anchoring areas can only accommodate about 50% of the actual number of boats. Some large boats have to anchor at storm shelters in other provinces such as Thanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, etc.

Fishermen in Dien Ngoc, Dien Chau have to repair their boats after being hit by storm No. 3.

Therefore, there has been a phenomenon of fighting for places to enter the port to sell fish or take shelter from storms. As for the solution to avoid storms, the only way is to direct the communes to let boats anchor in front, behind and in the middle of the canals. This type of shelter is basically only effective in terms of quantity, but after the storm, there is often damage such as wind damaging the hull, breaking windows, and light bulbs.

Fishermen in the Lach Con coastal area (Hoang Mai town) also share the same concern, here the channel has just been dredged, the infrastructure system at the anchorage has not been invested synchronously. Mr. Tran Minh Luong (Quynh Lap ward, Hoang Mai town) said: Usually, after our boat sells fish to traders, if there is a storm, we go to Thanh Hai commune, Tinh Gia district (Thanh Hoa) to take refuge, because the wharf there is wider and safer. Each trip also costs from 150-180 liters of fuel, which is very expensive.

In Quynh Lap and Quynh Phuong, there are about 700 fishing boats. Every time a storm comes, dozens of large boats have to take shelter elsewhere.

Nghe An is a locality with a fairly strong development in the number of fishing vessels, with 80-100 new vessels built each year. The increase in the number of boats means that logistics and storm shelter services must be provided to meet the demand.

Mr. Tran Huu Tien - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: Currently, Lach Con, Hoang Mai town is under construction, the project value is over 60 billion VND. The Cua Hoi port upgrade project is over 100 billion VND, currently reaching over 45% of the volume. It is expected that by the second quarter of 2017, 2 more ports will be put into use, which will help ships to safely shelter from storms.

Nghe An province is in dire need of the State's attention and investment in capital to build a synchronous fishing port system, so that fishermen can confidently invest in building large boats and engines to go fishing.

Van Truong