Fishing port and wharf planning: When will it be completed?

Primitive and unsynchronized… is the current state of our country’s fishing port and wharf system. These shortcomings have been and are hindering the development of Vietnam’s fisheries sector.

Many disadvantages:

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the country currently has 20 central fishing ports, 84 local fishing ports and 101 fishing wharves. The formation of a system of fishing ports and wharves was considered to have basically met the logistics needs of the fishery, increased offshore fishing output, reduced pressure on coastal fishing, and facilitated fisheries management. However, the investment process in building a system of fishing ports and wharves nationwide has not met the scale, quantity, technique, and aesthetics, and has not been commensurate with the development of the fishery. After a period of exploitation and use, the system of fishing ports and wharves has revealed many shortcomings.

Before 2005, due to the lack of a master plan, a number of fishing ports had to change their intended use. These include Cat Ba fishing port (Hai Phong) which had to be transferred to the tourism industry; Xuan Pho fishing port (Ha Tinh) which was transferred to the Coast Guard; Thuan Phuoc fishing port which had to be moved to Tho Quang fishing port (Da Nang) to make room for the Bach Dang extended road construction project... Song Gianh fishing port was granted land by the Government but its area was reduced because the Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee reclaimed the land to re-grant it to another unit. Tien Chau fishing port (Tuy An district, Phu Yen) with a total investment of more than 27.9 billion VND, under the Central's East Sea - Islands Program, has been operating since July 2006, but now only 5 - 10% of small-capacity vessels enter the port, the amount of aquatic products passing through the port is only about 200 tons/year, equal to 3.3% of the designed capacity...

Currently, the number of fishing ports and wharves does not meet the requirements and quality.

Currently, the number of fishing ports and wharves does not meet the requirements and quality. In addition, during the investment and construction process, the capital plan has not met the needs of the projects. Many projects are concerned about capital and investment levels, which has affected the scale of the project. Currently, many projects are overloaded, do not meet aesthetic requirements, have inappropriate site layout, outdated technology, and lack of auxiliary items. Some fishing ports that have been built and put into use have appeared to have silted channels. Some fishing ports (Ba Tri, Phan Thiet, Quy Nhon...) do not have enough space for ships to dock.

Furthermore, the system of fishing ports and wharves still lacks unified management nationwide. In Khanh Hoa, a fishing port management company was established, in Nghe An, a fishing port management board was established, in Kien Giang, a wharf management enterprise was established - Kien Giang fishing port... Cat Lo fishing port (Vung Tau), Ngoc Hai fishing port (Do Son, Hai Phong) were assigned to enterprises for management. At fishing ports and wharves, managers have called on economic sectors to participate in investing in the construction of service production items such as: ice and fish meal production; seafood processing; mechanical repair; opening grocery stores and food service establishments, making full use of existing land funds. Most fishing ports and wharves collect fees according to the temporary schedule approved by the Provincial People's Committee, there is no official fee schedule issued by the Ministry of Finance.

In general, fishing ports and wharves have not coordinated to organize environmental management activities, statistics on resources and quality after exploitation; especially, they have not organized a system of middlemen and purchasing agents at the port, so there is still a situation of forcing fishermen to pay more.

What is the solution?

Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has invested in the fisheries sector of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Soc Trang, and Ca Mau provinces with loans from the World Bank. With this investment capital, fishing ports and wharves in these localities are being upgraded to overcome shortcomings.

Up to now, the number of fishing ports and wharves has basically met the needs of the fishing industry. However, in the coming time, the State needs to invest in upgrading the system of fishing ports and wharves nationwide. On December 1, 2006, the Ministry of Fisheries issued the Regulations on the management of fishing ports, wharves, and storm shelters for fishing vessels, along with Decision No. 20/2006/QD-BTS. Localities should study and apply the port management model according to the regulations. Port management tasks must be associated with resource statistics, vessel management, environment, quality and food safety and hygiene. At the same time, it is necessary to reorganize seafood purchasing activities in ports, linking exploitation with processing, improving post-harvest efficiency, and reducing intermediary costs.

According to Vietnam Fisheries