Nghe An fishermen enter the Northern fishing season

Northern fishing seasonof fishermen in Quynh Luu district starts from the 10th lunar month of this year and lasts until the 2nd lunar month of next year.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hai, owner of fishing boat NA 90589 TS in village 8, Son Hai commune, shared: “During the Northern season, seafood catches have high productivity and value. Shrimp, fish, and squid caught this season are all big and fat. According to experience at sea, during the Northern fishing season, there is often heavy rain, water from inland rivers flows into the sea carrying plankton, so seafood swims upstream to find food, so fishermen will spread nets to catch them.”

The Northern fish crop has high productivity, seafood has export value. Photo: Viet Hung

According to Mr. Hai, in the first fishing trip of the Northern fishing season, his boat caught 1.5 tons of dried squid which was dried on board; 1 ton of tuna. The most valuable is the squid, at this time the average price of 1 kg of dried squid is from 900,000 VND to 1.2 million VND/kg (an increase of 200,000 - 500,000 VND/kg compared to 3 months ago). With 1.5 tons of dried squid caught, Mr. Hai's boat earned 150 million VND.

Son Hai Commune, Quynh Luu District has 110 offshore mining vehicles, with a total capacity of 22,000 CV.Seafood exploitationin Son Hai accounts for 60% of the total local income. Thanks to actively going offshore, from the beginning of the year until now, the total catch of the commune has reached 2,300 tons, mainly dried squid, hairtail, mackerel, silver pomfret, shrimp... with a total value of 170 billion VND.

In the first 11 months of 2021, the whole district exploited nearly 63,000 tons of seafood. Photo: Hong Dien.

Mr. Hoang Son - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Hai Commune, Quynh Luu District said: "Entering the Northern fish fishing season, to be proactive in human resources, the commune has mobilized workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic to return to their localities to work on boats. In addition, it has been propagandized to fishermen to comply with the provisions of the Fisheries Law when going to sea. The commune has strengthened inspection of food safety of fishing vessels; at the same time, encouraged boat owners to build cold storage tunnels using PU material to freeze fresh products after exploitation".

Quynh Luu district currently has nearly 1,200 boats, of which 800 are offshore fishing vessels. Currently, 100% of Quynh Luu's offshore fishing vessels are equipped with synchronous fish detectors, long-range communication devices, and net management equipment when operating at sea. In the first 11 months of 2021, the whole district has exploited nearly 63,000 tons of seafood/plan of 69,400 tons. In the 5 months of the Northern fishing season alone, Quynh Luu strives to catch 25,000 - 30,000 tons.

Ms. Vu Thi Bich Hang - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district said: To help fishermen work safely and effectively at sea, Quynh Luu district applies agricultural extension models on exploitation support to install Lead lighting systems for ships. At the same time, propose to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development a project applying high technology on preserving seafood after exploitation with liquid nitrogen gas for the Department to consider and decide on investment in the coming time.

Fishermen in Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai have strived to catch more than 50,000 tons of various types of seafood in 5 months of the fishing season. Photo: Hong Dien

Still atHoang Mai townDuring this time, fishermen in localities such as Quynh Lap, Quynh Phuong... are actively going offshore to exploit seafood.

Fisherman Ho Van Tu, in Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town) said, to exploit high yield, our ship has invested, purchased fishing gear, increased labor to exploit effectively. In addition, services providing fuel, necessities, and fish transportation operate continuously to meet the fishermen's sea trips. The ship goes to exploit about 90 nautical miles from the mainland to be effective, increasing the income for the crew.

Fishermen repair their fishing nets after each trip. Photo: Viet Hung

Hoang Mai town currently has more than 998 vessels, of which about 456 are offshore fishing vessels. This year, despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, local seafood exploitation still achieved high output.

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Thuy - Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Hoang Mai town said: In the last months of the year, the epidemic was controlled, fishermen actively stayed at sea, so they achieved high productivity and value. It is expected that by the end of December 2021, the whole town will exploit 57,364 tons/plan 56,667 tons, an increase of 9.3% over last year. This Northern fish crop, according to the plan, will exploit about more than 25,000 tons of seafood, accounting for 44.6% of the year's output.