Nghe An fishermen stick to the sea during the Covid-19 pandemic

Tien Thuy Commune has 269 fishing boats, of which 145 are over 90 CV. Despite being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, after Tet until now, local fishermen have persisted in staying at sea and achieved high yields.

Fishing boat of fisherman Tien Thuy (Quynh Luu) goes out to sea. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Fisherman Ho Van Trung in Tien Thuy commune said that his boat had just returned to port after more than 7 days of fishing in the northern waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. This trip, the boat caught more than 4 tons of fish and squid. After returning to port, all the fish were sold in the morning, bringing in an income of more than 190 million VND. After deducting expenses, each crew member earned 5 - 7 million VND.

Hairtail fish, an export item to China, is currently being processed into one-sun-dried fish for preservation. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Trung shared: “At first, fishermen were very worried because the Covid-19 epidemic would affect the value and consumption of seafood when the ships returned to shore. However, not only my ship but hundreds of other fishing boats returning to Lach Quen also sold seafood easily, without any obstacles. In the case of fishing boats returning to shore at the same time, there was a price difference due to traders forcing down prices. However, it did not greatly affect the psychology and work of fishermen.”

With a stable mentality when the seafood caught is consumed quickly and promptly, fishermen in Tien Thuy commune encourage each other to stick to the sea to exploit and bring in high yields. According to statistics from the People's Committee of Tien Thuy commune, since the beginning of the year, fishermen in the whole commune have exploited more than 2,500 tons of seafood, achieving a revenue of more than 30 billion VND (of which the output increased by more than 1,000 tons, leading to an increase in revenue of 10 billion VND compared to the same period in 2019).

Fishermen in Quynh Luu district achieve high yields. Photo: Viet Hung

According to research at seafood purchasing and processing facilities in Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai town, in the context of the complicated development of the Covid-19 epidemic, these facilities are operating normally. All seafood purchased from fishing boats is transported for domestic sale; the rest is purchased by people to process, freeze and sell gradually.

Mr. Ho Van Luc - owner of a seafood purchasing and processing facility for export in Tien Thuy commune said that currently, seafood caught in Quynh Luu district are mainly traditional species and mostly serve the domestic market. Some high-value seafood such as hairtail, tuna, mackerel... which are exportable are also a problem for the facility to consider if the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic is prolonged. In the coming time, if these items are caught by fishermen, they will be purchased and then processed into one-sun dried and preserved. At that time, we will wait until the Vietnam - China market stabilizes again before starting to export.

Seafood is purchased and packaged for sale in the domestic market. Photo: Viet Hung

In order to achieve high output and value, recently, Quynh Luu district has worked with seafood purchasing enterprises to proactively adjust processing and export plans. Regarding fishing, the district also requires fishermen to change fishing grounds, limit the exploitation of seafood species that are currently difficult to export such as hairtail, anchovy, tuna... instead exploit other species that are easy to consume, contributing to increasing income when the epidemic is complicated.

As of March 18, the entire Quynh Luu district exploited more than 9,000 tons of seafood, including valuable fish such as needlefish over 20 tons; spotted fish over 500 tons; herring over 200 tons... It is expected that by the end of March 2020, the catch will reach more than 10,000 tons, an increase of about 500 tons - 1,000 tons compared to 2019.