Nghe An fishermen share experiences of 'living well' with their profession

The challenges

Hearing that ships were returning to avoid the monsoon, we went to Lach Quen port.Quynh Luu district. Met Mr. Tran Thanh in Phu Lien hamlet, Quynh Long commune, checking the machinery and equipment on fishing boat number NA 95669 TS with a capacity of 1,140 horsepower, the largest fishing boat in the commune, built by his family with a total cost of over 9 billion VND. Over the years, the boat has helped his family's life gradually improve as it effectively goes offshore, creating jobs for nearly 20 crew members with a stable income.

Many fishing boats will have to stay ashore in 2022 due to difficulties with fuel prices and labor shortages... Photo: Quang An

Through conversation, Mr. Thanh said that 2022 is not a favorable time for the seafood exploitation industry. He shared: “This year, the seafaring profession has encountered many difficulties, the weather is not favorable so the frequency of going to sea has decreased, for example, in the last month of this year, we planned to go on 3 sea trips, each trip lasting 7-10 days, but it happened during the monsoon season, so we had to take a break for more than 10 days. Not to mention the fact that fuel prices are often high, at times nearly 30,000 VND/liter of oil, causing fuel costs to increase by hundreds of millions of VND each time we go to sea. Although fuel prices have decreased, they have not yet returned to the level of less than 20,000 VND like previous years.”

A representative of Quynh Long commune government said that in addition to difficulties in weather and fuel prices, the local seafood exploitation industry is currently facing a relatively large labor shortage. The whole commune has 120 ships, including 43 large ships with a capacity of over 700CV, which need enough labor to fully exploit their exploitation capacity. However, in recent times, the number of crew members leaving the sea to switch to other jobs and labor export has tended to increase. In 2022, 10 ship owners in the area had to sell their ships due to the above difficulties.

Quynh Lap Commune, Hoang Mai Town is one of the localities with the largest number of fishing boats in Nghe An with over 200, of which 70% are large capacity boats. Hoang Mai Town is famous for its seafaring profession with "huge" boats, and fishermen with a lot of experience in catching seafood. However, in 2022, seafood exploitation here also faces common difficulties of the fishing industry.

Seafood traders at Nghi Thuy fishing port, Cua Lo town. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Le Ba Ky - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Lap Commune, Hoang Mai Town, said that since the beginning of 2022, nearly 300 people in the commune, mainly fishermen, have gone abroad to work or do other jobs. With a large number of boats, the locality is currently lacking hundreds of seafarers. Although ship owners have paid relatively high salaries, approximately 8 million VND/month, it is still difficult to retain seafarers.

Currently, the whole province has over 3,400 fishing vessels, of which nearly 1,200 are the longest, from 15m or more. Nghe An fishermen catch seafood by gillnets, grab nets, purse seines, dragnets... with about 17,000 workers directly on board. However, in the face of current difficulties, the number of marine workers is on a downward trend, affecting the annual seafood output in localities and affecting the supply in the market.

Confidently clinging to the sea

Despite going through a difficult year, in the minds of those born from the sea, fishermen all want to stick with their ancestors' profession, living with the waves. Therefore, when challenges appear, only a part of fishermen look for other jobs, the rest still find ways to adapt to overcome difficulties, determined to go out to sea.

Nghe An fishermen's boats confidently set sail for the sea. Photo: Quang An

In Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu), Mr. Nguyen Van Minh in Dai Bac hamlet is an experienced fisherman in seafood exploitation. He is one of the few ship owners who has maintained a stable income this year. Mr. Minh said that although 2022 is facing many difficulties, he has never thought of giving up his father's profession. His love for the profession has also inspired the young crew members on the ship, so everyone is enthusiastic about working. The average seafood exploitation output of the ship is over 120 tons/month, the highest in the locality.

Mr. Minh also does not hesitate to share experiences and secrets to help colleagues overcome difficulties, maintain a stable income, and continue to live with the profession. According to Mr. Minh, there are 3 factors that determine successful seafood exploitation. First, you must be proficient in the profession, stay at sea for a long time to gain work experience, for example, mastering wind and water techniques, fishing net structure, skillfully using equipment... to handle all situations at sea, this issue must be honed gradually over the years.

Fisherman Nguyen Van Minh, Quynh Long commune, Quynh Luu district always keeps in mind to preserve the traditional profession, overcome difficulties and stick to the sea. Photo: Quang An

Another experience is that ship owners must invest in machinery and equipment for effective fishing, not trying to use outdated, degraded equipment, which reduces productivity and is unsafe. Mr. Minh's ship a few months ago installed a high-tech fish detector imported from Japan at a total cost of 1.7 billion VND, thereby increasing fishing output by 30-40%. In addition, LED systems, lighting, and fishing nets must also be invested synchronously to improve fishing efficiency.

Finally, Mr. Minh believes that in order to exploit valuable seafood, the ship owner must move fishing grounds appropriately according to the season, not trying to fish in one area. For example, from March to September every year, Mr. Minh's ship usually fishes in the sea from Ha Tinh to Da Nang, the rest of the time, it fishes in fishing grounds from Nghe An to Hai Phong. Each fishing ground at the right time will have seafood with both good yield and high value, providing a stable income.

Despite facing many difficulties, Nghe An fishermen still strive to stay at sea and preserve their ancestors' profession. Photo: Quang An

Fisherman Hoang Van Tuan in Chien Thang hamlet, Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district has two 620CV and 410CV boats for trawling. Mr. Tuan said: Owning two boats that have to go to sea regularly during the time of high fuel prices in the past year has created a lot of pressure. However, thanks to investing in synchronous equipment as well as keeping enough crew members, the fishing output has been good, so there is money to pay for fuel as well as crew salaries.

According to Mr. Tuan, in addition to fishing experience and equipment investment, understanding the thoughts, regularly sharing with crew members, promptly handling their wishes so that they have the motivation to stay at sea for a long time, and working with a spirit of solidarity is extremely important, deciding the success of each voyage.

At this time, thousands of fishermen in the province are focusing on checking their boats, preparing supplies and fuel to be ready to go to sea after the end of the monsoon season. On the last trips of the year, everyone hopes for favorable weather to catch a large catch and have a warm Tet after a difficult year.

Nghe An province's seafood output in 2022 is estimated to reach 175,000 tons. Photo: Quang An

When asked about their wishes for the new year, most fishermen only hope for simple things, that in 2023 the sea will be calm and the wind will be gentle so that they can go out to sea regularly and have a stable life. In addition, they also hope that local authorities and all levels will have more support policies for fishermen such as fuel and equipment price support and especially work with banks and credit funds to reduce interest rates and extend debt repayment periods so that people can reduce pressure and feel secure at sea.