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, 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 in the southern coastal provinces and 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 net fishing to purse seine fishing 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 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, buying more boats to operate with the determination to get rich", Mr. Tran Quang Ve shared more.

The entire Quynh Long commune has 170 vessels, including 93 purse seine vessels. Currently, there are households that own 2-3 vessels 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 vessels). 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 profession, fisherman Nguyen Ba Thao in Phu Lien village said that the purse seine profession has outstanding advantages over other 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 profession ensures aquatic resources when fishing, and does not cause destruction. With many years of experience at sea, using modern purse seine means with many advanced machines, over the years, Mr. Thao's boat has been successful in fishing.

If fishing with 2-pole seine nets like before, each trip out to sea lasted from 7 to 10 days, his boat would earn from 100 to 150 million VND/trip, but since switching to purse seine, each trip brings in an income of 300 to 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 to 10 million VND" - Mr. Thao said.

In 2017, thanks to the purse seine 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. From there, creating stable jobs for people, increasing 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, earning 500-600 million VND/trip, twice as much as the previous wooden-hulled boats. 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 newly built boats 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, there have been 37 projects 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 more than 100 degraded, small-capacity boats that were sold by fishermen to build new, large-capacity boats to fish offshore. The district always encourages fishermen to upgrade large-capacity boats for effective fishing, gradually reducing the fleet of fishing vessels 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, and 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, 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 plan for seafood exploitation output of the district in 2017 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 their next offshore trips.

Viet Hung