Fishermen hit "sea luck" in Truong Sa on New Year's Eve

After more than half a month at sea, many offshore fishing boats in the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa waters have docked at Quy Nhon fishing port (Binh Dinh), their holds full of fish. Joy is evident on the faces of fishermen as Tet approaches.

Currently, the main tuna fishing season of fishermen in Binh Dinh province is entering. There is nothing more joyful than when in the main fishing season, fishermen hit big with tuna, striped tuna, etc. The joy is doubled when the price of tuna increases, fishermen are excited after a long trip at sea.

Binh Dinh fishermen hit a jackpot with tuna from the Truong Sa sea area.

According to the reporter, in recent days at Quy Nhon fishing port (Binh Dinh), dozens of offshore fishing boats in the Truong Sa sea area have docked to sell seafood to celebrate Tet early with their families. However, many fishing boats, after selling fish, continue to refuel and go out to sea, ready to celebrate Tet at sea to exploit seafood when the sea season is "full".

Fisherman Phan Van Hao (Kim Giao Bac village, Hoai Hai commune, Hoai Nhon district), captain of fishing boat BD 96643 TS, along with 6 other fishermen who just arrived at Quy Nhon fishing port, said: "This trip, my boat only caught 25 ocean tuna, about 1.4 tons. With the current selling price of 98,000 VND/kg, the boat earned over 130 million VND, plus the other types of fish and squid that were caught. After selling, after deducting all expenses, the crew members also had a little profit to give to their wives and children for Tet. My boat made little profit, many other boats that went with me had a big hit. Some caught 100 ocean tuna, after deducting expenses, the boat members shared more than 10 million VND/person."

In particular, 25 fishing boats of Binh Dinh fishermen piloted catching ocean tuna using Japanese equipment, arriving at Quy Nhon port one after another, to the joy of the captains and crew. Each boat caught an average of over 1.4 tons, with the largest boat catching nearly 2 tons.

Fishing boat BD 96034 TS of Mr. Bui Lot (in Tam Quan Bac commune, Hoai Nhon district), along with 6 fishermen participating in catching ocean tuna using Japanese technology, docked with more than 1.8 tons. "The happiest thing is that this trip the boat has 3 ocean tuna weighing 130 kg, which meet the standards for export to Japan and can be sold at 170,000 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, each person gets 15 million to celebrate a warm New Year with their family," Mr. Lot shared.

Meanwhile, fishing boats using purse seine nets in the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa waters also had a good catch of striped tuna, flying fish, mackerel, squid... each boat caught 12-15 tons of striped tuna, not to mention other types of fish. Fisherman Vo Nen (42 years old, in Tam Quan Bac commune, Hoai Nhon district) said that this trip our boat had a "bumper harvest", catching about 12 tons of striped tuna, over 500 kg of ocean tuna and some mackerel, flying fish... sold for about 200 million. After deducting expenses, divided among 11 crew members, it was about 10 million, enough to cover Tet. With a good fishing season and rising prices, the crew members were determined to go offshore and celebrate Tet at sea to exploit aquatic products.

Mr. Tran Van Phuc, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Dinh, said: Currently, Binh Dinh province has about 1,170 fishing boats exploiting ocean tuna in the fishing grounds of Truong Sa, Hoang Sa..., of which most of the fishing boats will celebrate Tet at sea to exploit aquatic products, increase income for fishermen; at the same time contribute to protecting the sovereignty of the sea and islands.

“Every year, fishermen in Binh Dinh exploit and catch about 9,000 tons of ocean tuna. Although the general forecast of the Vietnamese seafood industry is that ocean tuna output will gradually decrease each year due to declining resources. However, the ocean tuna fishing fleet of Binh Dinh is still operating very effectively. Especially at the beginning of the 2016 tuna season, the tuna catch output was good, the price of tuna increased compared to last year, so fishermen are very excited to go offshore and stick to the sea to exploit aquatic products,” said Mr. Phuc.

According to vnmedia.vn