Fisherman Quynh Phuong goes to "solve the case"

(Baonghean) -The entire Quynh Phuong commune (Quynh Luu - Nghe An) has a main fleet of more than 20 boats capable of going offshore, clinging to the sea in the common fishing area. Many active fishermen have contributed shares to buy large boats with over 400 horsepower, investing nearly a billion VND in fishing gear to increase the productivity of their fishing trips. However, for many years now, the situation of Quynh Phuong fishermen having their nets stolen while going offshore has occurred frequently; lacking fishing gear, many fishing boats have had to cover themselves with tarpaulins to "sleep".

Fishing boat NA 94011 – TS is Quynh Phuong’s biggest boat. Every trip out to sea is a success. But for nearly a month now, the boat has had to cover itself with a tarpaulin and “sleep” in the creek. Sadly, the ship owner Nguyen Van Phuong - a fisherman in Phuong Hong hamlet said: “At around 22:00 on July 1, 2011, my ship was operating at coordinates 19.06 degrees North latitude, 30 degrees East longitude (more than 80 nautical miles from the coast of Quynh Luu), when I discovered an unusual flag light (flashing light). I quickly called the crew on the ship to get up and pull the net; after pulling 52 nets (drain nets), I discovered the nets were cut (stolen). I called the fishing boat in the same commune to search all night but to no avail. Checking again, the number of cut nets was 47 (worth nearly 500 million VND to buy new ones). On the morning of July 2, I brought the ship back to the mainland to report to Lach Con Control Station - Border Guard Station 144, the border guards in and out of the province and arranged for the ship's shareholders' families to search all the suspected locations...”.

The hardships of those searching for the nets are endless. On July 2, the ship owner Nguyen Van Phuong and his shareholders took a bus to Nam Dinh, to the fishing villages there to search for traces.

Fishing boat NA 94011 has been covered with a tarpaulin and has been "sleeping" in Con creek for nearly a month now.

Shareholder of fishing boat NA 94011 – Dr. Nguyen Quy Ton continued: “In Nam Dinh, we could not find any trace, so on July 5, we returned to Thanh Hoa. After reporting to Border Guard Station 118 Thanh Hoa stationed in Hoang Truong commune (Hoang Hoa district), I borrowed a motorbike to buy some refreshments and accidentally discovered our net buoys at Mr. Le Van Khich's house in Thanh Xuan village (Hoang Truong commune). I quickly returned to ask for help from Station 118, and searched and found all of our stolen nets hidden at Mr. Le Van Khich's father-in-law's house in Lien Minh village (Hoang Truong). Through the investigation and information exploitation of the Command of Station 118, the subject who stole the nets was initially identified as Le Van Dung, born in 1984, captain of fishing boat TH 90465 – TS, son of Mr. Khich. Border Guard Station 118 Thanh Hoa made a record and recovered 47 stolen nets. stole from us, kept as evidence to make a case for settlement".

Needless to say, the joy of the fishermen who went to “solve the case” when they saw their property was overwhelming. The ship owner Nguyen Van Phuong stood still, shedding tears right in the house where the thief hid the net. But the joy did not last long. The net was kept as evidence, the ship had to stay idle in the creek. Nguyen Van Phuong’s family now had five mouths to feed, depending on his wife’s hard work at the market, earning about a hundred thousand dong a day, not knowing when it would last. The shareholders were also sitting on a nest of fire ants, every afternoon they went out to look at the ship sleeping in the creek, their hearts in turmoil.

When we returned to Quynh Phuong commune, the story of Mr. Phuong and the shareholders going to "solve the case" to find stolen property at sea and the suspect was receiving attention from the authorities and many fishermen. The fact that many fishermen in Quynh Phuong had their nets stolen at sea was very upsetting, and everyone encouraged Mr. Phuong and the shareholders to be determined to do something and prosecute the inhumane person.

The reason why the owner of the NA 94011 boat – TS Nguyen Van Phuong and the shareholders are determined is thanks to the solidarity, when in trouble, of our fishermen. Fisherman Nguyen Phuc Thao, owner of the NA 94067 – TS fishing boat, fisherman Le Van Bay, owner of the NA 93058 – TS fishing boat, all in the same fleet of trawlers going out to sea like Mr. Phuong, heard that there was a reporter, rushed forward, accusing that not long ago, thieves had also stolen their nets, causing losses of 30 million for one person, 50 million for another. Before that, for many years, the Quynh Phuong fishing boat had its nets stolen regularly. Mr. Bay said: “Once, around 5am, a fishing boat with a Thanh Hoa license plate openly cut and took the nets. We chased it away, but the other boat had more power, so we had to give up!”. In fact, many Quynh Phuong fishermen have gone out to “solve the case” themselves, then agreed to take the nets back. That is, they want to get to the bottom of the matter but are afraid that if the matter drags on, where will they get the fishing gear to stick to the sea? But now, in the case of Mr. Phuong's boat, the fishermen are determined to join forces to help prosecute the case...

The stolen net of fishing boat NA 94011 – TS was discovered in Thanh Hoa.

Mr. Ho Ngoc Ha - Vice Chairman of Quynh Phuong Commune and Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh - Deputy Military Chief of Border Guard Station 144 Quynh Luu said that for many years now, the situation of Quynh Phuong fishermen having their nets stolen while going out to sea has been happening frequently, and it was determined that fishermen from Hoang Truong Commune (Hoang Hoa - Thanh Hoa) were the ones causing it; there was a case that was about to be prosecuted but the victim dropped the complaint because they were afraid of having their means and evidence held for a long time and could not go to sea... Regarding the case of Nguyen Van Phuong's ship, the leaders of the commune and the station both supported the decision to prosecute the person who stole the nets. Shareholders of fishing boat NA 94011 - Dr. Nguyen Quy Ton added: "Mr. Le Van Khich and Le Van Dung directly called me and admitted that Dung's ship stole the above nets and asked to resolve the matter through a civil agreement, not to bring it to court. I recorded everything. If we wanted to, we would have taken the nets back right then. But thinking that we would feel secure in going to sea in the future, we discussed that we had to go all the way to bring the case to court."

In the immediate future, the main Quynh Phuong fleet and the fishermen will contribute more or less so that Mr. Phuong and the shareholders have the funds to travel "according to the project"; then each ship will reduce a few nets to contribute so that the NA 94011 - TS can continue to stay at sea.

Mr. Phuong was still hesitating, "follow the case" then follow it, but now is there any intervention from the government to get the nets back to sea? I told him to write a petition to the province and ask for help from the relevant agencies. More than ever, the sea needs our fishermen to stick around when the waves are high... On July 26, he just called to inform us that Thanh Hoa province will complete the file to prosecute the case. The bad guys will be punished by the law. I just hope that Mr. Phuong's fishing boat will soon set sail thanks to the solidarity and support of our fishermen.

Sam Temple