Nghe An fishermen pool capital to build large ships

(Baonghean) - In addition to the support from Decree 67, Nghe An fishermen have pooled capital to develop an offshore fishing fleet. Accordingly, the number of large-engined vessels has increased rapidly, with the total capacity of fishing vessels in the province now reaching nearly 570,000 CV, an increase of nearly 13% compared to 2015.

» Huge income from seafaring

Quynh Long Commune (Quynh Luu) mainly relies on the marine economy for its income. The commune currently has 170 vessels with a total capacity of 53,300 horsepower (an increase of 6,300 horsepower compared to 2015). With the aim of fishing in offshore fishing grounds with modern means, fishermen in Quynh Long Commune focus on investing in improving the capacity of their vessels. In 2016 alone, 19 offshore fishing vessels were purchased and newly built (8 new vessels were built, 10 new vessels were purchased, and 1 vessel was converted from 4 sao to offshore).

In addition, there are 6 newly built vessels under Decree 67CP. In the first quarter of 2017, fishermen in the commune continued to build new vessels, converting from 2-sao trawling to 4-sao trawling or to purse seining. "In the next few months, 8 more vessels will be launched, mainly for purse seining, so our aquatic and seafood output will increase even more" - Mr. Tran Quang Ve - Secretary of the Quynh Long Commune Party Committee said.

A wooden boat with a capacity of 820CV, which was self-funded by fisherman Ho Huu Hung in Nghia Phu village, Quynh Nghia commune (Quynh Luu). Photo: Viet Hung

In Quynh Long, there are currently many households boldly borrowing capital to invest in large-capacity boats, for example, the household of Nguyen Van Minh and the household of Nguyen Sang in Dai Hai village, each household has 3 boats. Each month, the household of Minh and Sang earns over 300 million VND. The good thing about fishermen in Quynh Long commune is that they do not invest in buying boats alone, but about 7-10 households share one boat.

“Doing this way, if one boat fails, there will be another boat to compensate, avoiding capital losses, and also so that everyone is responsible for their own assets and catch. There is no boss-employee relationship, everyone is the boss, everyone is the worker, whoever is good at what they do does that job. Therefore, everyone is very affectionate and sociable, the neighborhood relationship is increasingly tightened, helping each other develop the family economy,” Nguyen Sang shared.

In Quynh Nghia commune (Quynh Luu), Mr. To Duy The - Vice Chairman of the commune's Fisheries Association said that there are currently 3 boat building establishments in the commune. Due to limited human resources and difficult fishing labor, the number of boats tends not to increase, only maintaining 120-130 boats but focusing on increasing the capacity of the boats. In Quynh Nghia, the boats are mainly large, with an average capacity of 500 CV/boat (2-3 years ago, the boats were mainly under 300 CV).

Shipbuilding at Ngo Thuy facility, Quynh Nghia commune (Quynh Luu).

Chart of the number of fishing boats in the whole province. Graphics: Hong Toai

While accessing capital under Decree 67 is difficult, Quynh Nghia fishermen have proactively built large capacity ships with their own capital. "In 2007-2008, gasoline was expensive, so there was a phenomenon of fishermen staying ashore due to not being able to pay input costs, but in recent years, this phenomenon has not happened, fishing activities have been taking place regularly and continuously," added the Vice Chairman of the Quynh Nghia Commune Fisheries Association.

Or in Tan An village (Phu Yen parish, An Hoa commune, Quynh Luu district), fishermen have also boldly invested in building large-capacity ships. In the village, there is a shipbuilding facility owned by parishioner Nguyen Van Tuan. In 2016, the facility built 2 ships according to Decree 67 for people in Phu Yen parish, and also built many ships with a capacity of 90 CV or more. In addition to building ships, Mr. Tuan's family also participates in offshore fishing. In the first months of the year, Mr. Tuan's son's ship achieved high yields, each trip earning 200-250 million VND.

It can be seen that, thanks to favorable fishing conditions and good prices, most fishermen in Quynh Luu have proactively sought capital to build offshore fishing vessels. Mr. Bui Xuan Truc - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district said: In 2016, Quynh Luu had about 100 degraded, low-capacity vessels sold by fishermen to build new, modern vessels for offshore fishing. The district always encourages fishermen to upgrade vessels with large capacity for effective fishing, gradually reducing the fleet of vessels operating near shore.

Launching of a 16 billion VND iron-hulled ship built under Decree 67 by parishioner Nguyen Kim Duong in Manh Son parish, Tien Thuy commune (Quynh Luu). Photo: Viet Hung

According to the synthesis from the Department of Aquatic Resources Protection, the total number of fishing vessels in the province is 3,917, of which, offshore vessels with a capacity of 90CV or more have 1,347 vessels, vessels with a capacity of 20-90CV have 991 vessels; vessels with a capacity of less than 20CV have 1,579 vessels. Mr. Ho The Xuan - Head of the Department of Fishing Vessel Management and Fisheries Infrastructure Services, Department of Aquatic Resources Protection said: Fishermen tend to build new large-engine vessels to go offshore instead of small-engine vessels with ineffective near-shore fishing in the past.

Therefore, the number of ships and boats has not increased much compared to before, but the capacity has increased sharply. The total capacity of the whole province reached nearly 570,000 CV, an average of 142.62 CV/ship, an increase of nearly 13% compared to 2015. For ships over 90 CV, the average capacity is 374.20 CV/ship, an increase of more than 11% compared to 2015. In 2017, the number of newly built ships in the province is expected to be about 90. Of which, ships from 30 - 90 CV are 10 and ships over 90 CV are about 80.

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