Need to link exploitation, processing and consumption of seafood

(Baonghean) - For seafood fishing activities to develop, an important factor is to link exploitation with logistics services, processing, and product consumption. If all stages are taken care of synchronously, for the common benefit with practical solutions, the economic efficiency of the fishing industry will reach high value and be truly sustainable...

Diversified onshore professions

Although he is from another region and has only lived for 3 years at Lach Quen fishing port (Tien Thuy, Quynh Luu), Mr. Nguyen Do Tuong's family in Duc Long village, Quynh Thuan commune has built a decent foundation from providing fishing logistics services for fishing boats that regularly dock at Lach Quen port. Every day, Mr. Tuong's facility serves fishermen with nets, fishing gear, ice, gasoline... for boats going out to sea, with an average revenue of about 100 million VND/trip, usually when the boat returns from the sea with fish to sell, then payment is made. According to a rather modest "revelation", each month after deducting expenses, Mr. Tuong's family has an income of 40 - 50 million VND.

Meanwhile, the ice production facility of Mr. Ho Dinh Ngoc (also in Lach Quen) operates continuously, selling ice to over 30 fishing boats each month, earning over 240 million VND in revenue, after deducting expenses, the profit is about 50 million VND/month. "Currently, our 3 facilities employ 6 workers, the busiest time is on the days when fishing boats are preparing to set sail, at that time we operate continuously to have products to supply to the boats" - Mr. Ngoc said.

Workers use ice crushers and winches to lift ice onto the ship's hold at Lach Quen fishing port, Quynh Luu district (Illustration photo).

Logistics services for seafaring like those of Mr. Tuong and Mr. Ngoc’s families are abundant in coastal fishing localities such as Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai Town, Dien Chau District, Nghi Loc and Cua Lo Town. This shows more clearly that the economic potential of fisheries in Nghe An is not only in the value of offshore fishing trips, but also in the effectiveness of developing logistics services, freezing, processing, exporting, etc.

According to research, most of the petrol and ice trading establishments at the fishing ports of Lach Quen, Lach Thoi, Cua Hoi... have created conditions for fishermen to owe money for raw materials, after these vehicles catch seafood, sell the seafood and repay the debt. Such a way of supply is always a practical condition to facilitate fishermen to go offshore and stick to the sea.

“Onshore” activities serving the fishing industry in Quynh Luu are spread across 11 communes, with more than 400 households participating in purchasing and processing seafood, with a variety of products such as fish sauce, shrimp paste, dried fish, shrimp... In addition to domestic consumption, products are exported through unofficial channels to China, some processed types such as fish fillets, frozen are exported to Russia and EU countries.

Salt supply service for fishing boats.

As for Hoang Mai Town, there are currently 896 fishing vessels, of which 397 have a capacity of over 90 CV. In 2015, the total output reached 30,415 tons. Mr. Hoang Ngoc Thuy - Head of the Economic Department of the Town People's Committee said: In addition to highly effective exploitation, Hoang Mai also strongly develops the aquatic and seafood processing industry, with two seafood processing villages Phu Loi and Phuong Can; 5 limited liability companies; 15 establishments for processing dried and steamed products; 35 establishments for collecting and preliminary processing; 64 cold storage warehouses with a total capacity of over 2,500 tons; over 500 establishments and households processing shrimp paste and fish sauce. The total processing output in 2015 reached over 11,750 tons.

On a provincial scale, according to the report of the Fisheries sector, in recent years there has been a fairly good growth, the average annual seafood production value reaches 7.5-8% of the province's economic value, creating jobs for more than 70,000 workers in the area.

Focus on processing and export

In addition to services for offshore vessels, domestic seafood processing has developed strongly. Currently, the province has two large-scale frozen seafood processing companies: Nghe An 2 Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company, which processes 8-10 tons of products per day that meet export standards to demanding markets such as the EU, the US, etc., and Nghe An Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company, which processes 5-6 tons of export products per day. In addition, there are other frozen processing facilities in Hoang Mai Town, Cua Lo Town, and Quynh Luu District, etc.

The province has about 40 dry goods processing facilities, 108 commercial cold storages with an output of 16,200 tons of various products; 5 fish meal processing factories; 4 companies specializing in processing fish sauce and various types of fish sauce on a large scale, along with other processing facilities, with an average annual processing output of over 22 million liters; 9 fish sauce processing villages.

In export processing, in addition to some private enterprises that process for export through unofficial channels, Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company exports fish sauce to Laos and Malaysia... Notably, Royoll Foods Group Thailand has put into operation a canned fish processing factory in Nam Cam Industrial Park with 2 production lines with a capacity of over 100 tons of fish/day, the value of processed products reaching 23 million USD...

Bottling fish sauce products at Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company (Illustration photo)

The province also directed and facilitated the Seafood Processing and Export Company 2 to invest in upgrading the factory, ensuring that products meet EU market standards; build the Lach Van Freezing Factory (Dien Chau) with a capacity of 15 tons/day. By 2020, 5 more seafood processing villages will be developed in Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc districts and Cua Lo town. Develop a commercial cold storage system with a total of 150 cold storages with a total capacity of 36,000 tons of products/year.

The output of aquatic products with actual processing and export value in the whole province in 2014 and 2015 reached an average of more than 31,000 tons per year, of which frozen processed products were 2,500 tons, frozen whole raw processed products were 18,000 tons, and fishmeal processing was nearly 8,000 tons...

According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Tien - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, comparing supply and demand shows that in the coming time, the demand for aquatic products and aquatic products will be higher than the potential supply. The forecast for domestic demand for processed raw materials by 2020 is about 6.08 million tons, domestic consumption of fresh aquatic products is 1.82 million tons. That shows that the ability to develop aquatic products in terms of exploitation, farming and processing is expanded.

On the basis of logistics services and seafood processing activities developing strongly and in the right direction, fleets actively go offshore with fishing methods and select fishing grounds to exploit seafood species to create raw materials for export. Policies to support the development of the industry, the field of processing and exporting seafood are an important driving force for offshore fishing activities.

Therefore, the province's policy is to attract investors to have large-scale, concentrated, modern processing facilities that ensure environmental hygiene; reduce raw and preliminary processing, increase the proportion of processing value-added products, diversify processed products and consumption markets; develop seafood processing and consumption in a chain linkage from exploitation, farming, processing, and product consumption.

Phu Huong