Quynh Luu fishermen build giant ships to go offshore

(Baonghean) -Thanks to actively going offshore, sticking to the sea, and building new boats with large capacity, in the first quarter of 2017, the seafood exploitation output of fishermen in Quynh Luu district was high; many fishing trips earned half a billion VND.

» Nghe An fishermen hit it big, earning billions after each trip out to sea

Effective in Quynh Long

For the past 3 years, thanks to the simultaneous conversion to purse seine fishing, fishermen in Quynh Long commune have always achieved high yields at sea, earning hundreds of millions of VND per trip. This is considered a good sign for fishermen in the miracle of sticking to the sea to exploit aquatic and seafood products.

Mr. Tran Quang Ve - Secretary of the Quynh Long Commune Party Committee said that in the past, fishermen in the area often caught seafood by using 2-sao and 4-sao nets. In 2003, implementing the project to develop offshore fishing, some fishermen in the commune were able to visit and learn from the southern coastal provinces and from neighboring countries such as Thailand, Taiwan... During that visit and learning experience in fishing, the fishermen gained experience and after returning home, decided to switch from nets to purse seines to exploit seafood.

Fishermen classify fish at Lach Quen fishing port. Photo: Viet Hung

During the times of fishing with purse seine, seafood output increased higher than before, fishing grounds expanded, especially the purse seine fishing exploited many fish species with high economic value. “Since 2007, dozens of local people's fishing vessels have converted to purse seine fishing.

The peak was from 2013 to 2016, when purse seine boats accounted for half of the total number of boats in the commune. Each purse seine boat when going offshore to fish had high output and economic value. Many fishermen invested in building new boats and buying more boats to operate with the determination to get rich," Mr. Tran Quang Ve added.

The whole Quynh Long commune has 170 boats, including 93 purse seine boats. Currently, there are households that own 2-3 boats for seafood exploitation such as the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Minh in Dai Bac village and Mr. Nguyen Sang in Dai Hai village (3 boats). These fishing households have boldly invested, effectively changed their occupations and are considered examples of getting rich from fishing in the commune, with an average monthly income of over 300 million VND/household.

Talking about the effectiveness of the purse seine fishing, fisherman Nguyen Ba Thao in Phu Lien village said that the purse seine fishing has outstanding advantages over other fishing professions because of its ability to catch high yields, any fishing ground can be exploited, and its safety is also high; moreover, the purse seine fishing ensures aquatic resources and is not destructive. With many years of experience at sea, using modern purse seine fishing equipment with many advanced machines, over the years, Mr. Thao's boat has achieved success in fishing.

If fishing with 2-pole seine nets like before, each trip out to sea lasted 7-10 days, his boat would earn 100-150 million VND/trip, but since switching to purse seine, each trip brings in an income of 300-400 million VND, with some lucky trips earning more than half a billion VND. "The last trip, although not yet in the fishing season, compared to last year, was still considered a trip with high output and value with a total income of 650 million VND, after deducting expenses, each crew member earned 8-10 million VND" - Mr. Thao said.

In 2017, thanks to the purse seine fishing fleet, the locality has rapidly increased its fishing output as well as revenue. According to data, in the first quarter of 2017, the entire Quynh Long commune exploited 2,200 tons, with an estimated value of 58.5 billion VND. The annual fishing output is from 30,000 - 32,000 tons/year.

With the development of offshore fishing fleet, in recent years, Quynh Long commune has attracted 1,800 male workers to go to sea and over 2,500 female workers to work as net menders and seafood service providers in the area. This has created stable jobs for the people and increased their income.

Investment in large capacity shipbuilding

In recent times, to meet the conditions of offshore fishing, many fishermen in the coastal communes of Quynh Luu have built new boats, upgraded boats, and installed modern detectors for effective exploitation. Tien Thuy commune is one of the localities where many fishermen have boldly borrowed capital to build new boats.

A typical example is fisherman Nguyen Kim Duong in Manh Son parish, Tien Thuy commune. Implementing the shipbuilding program according to Decree 67 of the Government, Mr. Duong boldly registered to build an iron-hulled ship with a budget of nearly 16 billion VND; in August 2016, the ship was handed over and put into operation. With extensive experience at sea combined with the use of a modern ship, after each trip to sea, his ship caught a lot of seafood.

On average, each fishing trip, his boat brings in valuable seafood such as mackerel, needlefish, and pomfret with an income of 500 - 600 million VND/trip, twice as high as the previous wooden-hulled boat. Tien Thuy commune currently has over 324 boats with a total capacity of 85,653 horsepower. Each year, the locality converts and builds 10 - 15 new boats with a capacity of 900 horsepower - 1,100 horsepower. In 2016 alone, the locality invested in building 18 new boats worth hundreds of billions of VND, including 6 new boats built under Decree 67 (2 iron-hulled boats, 4 wooden-hulled boats).

Quynh Luu fishermen have a good seafood fishing season. Photo: Viet Hung

Implementing the shipbuilding program according to Decree 67/CP, Decree 89/CP, Decree 172/CP, Quynh Luu is the locality with the highest number of people participating in shipbuilding projects in the province. Up to now, 37 projects have been implemented, of which 32 projects have been disbursed by banks and signed credit contracts (28 wooden-hulled ships, 4 iron-hulled ships) put into operation and disbursed 242.81 billion VND. Thanks to the strong development of the high-capacity fleet, the offshore fishing needs of local fishermen have been met.

Mr. Bui Xuan Truc - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district said that in 2016, in the district, there were about 100 degraded and small-capacity boats that were sold by fishermen to build new boats with large capacity to go offshore fishing. The district always encourages fishermen to upgrade boats with large capacity to fish effectively, gradually reducing the fleet of boats operating near shore. A good sign for fishermen today is that during the fishing process, many types of high-value seafood such as pipefish, sardines, spotted fish, rockfish, silver carp, etc. have reappeared. These fish species contribute to enriching marine seafood resources, fishermen can both exploit and protect aquatic resources.

At the beginning of April 2017, fishermen in Quynh Luu district are in the season of catching silver pomfret, spotted fish, fresh squid, and hairtail for export. The trips arriving at the port full of fish and shrimp are all purchased and exported by traders from provinces such as Quang Binh, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh... Thanks to that, fish are sold at quite high prices, silver pomfret at the port costs from 50,000 - 55,000 VND/kg, spotted fish costs from 25,000 - 30,000 VND/kg, exported hairtail costs from 200,000 - 220,000 VND/kg, and u fish costs 50,000 VND/kg...

In the first quarter of 2017, the total output of exploitation and aquaculture of the whole district is estimated at 10,062 tons, an increase of 7% compared to the same period in 2016. The planned output of seafood exploitation in 2017 of the district will reach about 49,000 tons - 50,000 tons/year. With the joy of a good fishing season in the first months of the year, Quynh Luu fishermen are even more hopeful for the success of the next offshore trips.

Viet Hung