Fishermen in Nghe An strive to venture out to sea.

(Baonghean) - To exploit the potential of marine resources, fishermen in localities in Nghe An province are boldly building large ships and boats, actively venturing out to sea for fishing, even though they always face hardships and dangers at sea...

Overcoming difficulties

Normally, fishing activities are fraught with difficulties due to rough seas and storms. But the fishermen of Nghe An still head out to sea, where not only is there economic benefit, but also the sacred territorial waters of the Fatherland. Therefore, despite facing numerous challenges following the recent "sea storm" and the environmental safety incident in April 2016 at the Hung Nghiep Formosa steel plant in Ha Tinh, the fishermen of Nghe An continued to regularly venture out to sea, seeking clean fish and maintaining and developing their traditional fishing profession.

The Duc Tam 01 vessel was recently built at Cua Lo port under a loan program related to Decree 67.

Daily monitoring in the Cua Lo sea area and surrounding regions has shown that Nghe An's sea has not been affected by the environmental pollution incident caused by Formosa. However, the incident has still impacted the consumption of seafood by Nghe An fishermen. Consumer concerns about seafood have significantly reduced purchasing power, even though the quality and quantity of fish in Nghe An's waters have been confirmed by environmental and food safety authorities to be as "clean" as before.

In particular, the demand for seafood in Vinh City and other areas has decreased significantly. Furthermore, some biased and unscientific information has caused public confusion, leading some people to lose confidence in the actual quality of seafood caught and farmed by local fishermen in environmentally sound waters. Moreover, this decrease in purchasing power has given traders a reason to pressure and drive down the prices of various seafood products.

Fishermen and local authorities in coastal areas such as Hoang Mai, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, and Cua Lo towns report that the prices of fish caught during this period have dropped significantly. According to Mr. Pham Van Cong, owner of boat 097861 BD in Quynh Thuan commune (Quynh Luu), fish that normally fetch high prices, such as king mackerel which used to sell for 40,000 VND/kg, are now sometimes only selling for 15,000 VND/kg. With such a drop in seafood prices, a fishing trip lasting 5 days and yielding about 10 tons of fish only provides enough income to cover costs.

Mr. Phung Ba Thu, owner of three fishing boats in Nghi Thuy ward (Cua Lo town), also said that although the fish harvest was relatively good this year, the sharp drop in prices has drastically reduced income from fishing trips. Previously, a tray of mackerel or scad sold at the market would fetch at least 200,000 VND, but in recent months, at times, it only sold for 70,000 - 80,000 VND, only the price of fish used for animal feed.

Despite facing many difficulties, fishermen in Nghe An province remain steadfast in their fishing activities. According to a report from Nghi Thuy ward (Cua Lo town), this year's fish catch has not decreased compared to previous years. As of early September, the entire town had harvested 5,700 tons of seafood, reaching 75% of the town's assigned plan. Meanwhile, according to statistics from Hoang Mai town, the fishing grounds in the first eight months of the year achieved quite high results, with a total estimated catch of 19,743 tons, equivalent to 67.85% of the plan, an increase of 4.54% compared to the same period last year...

Linking to increase the value of mining

With the active support of all levels and sectors from the central to local governments, and to actively maintain their presence at sea amidst numerous difficulties, fishermen in Nghe An have employed various methods and worked together in their offshore fishing trips. The quality and quantity of catches have been improved through the construction of larger vessels with greater offshore reach and storage capacity.

Fish arrive at Lach Quen wharf, Quynh Thuan commune (Quynh Luu district).

For example, Mr. Pham Van Cong in Quynh Thuan commune (Quynh Luu district) proactively borrowed money from the bank to buy a ship worth 8 billion VND, allowing him to venture out to sea to the Gulf of Tonkin fishing grounds, about 120 nautical miles from the mainland, to catch high-value seafood such as tuna. This type of ship allows Mr. Cong to go to sea for 5-10 days with a catch of about 10 tons.

Other households, such as Mr. Hoang Van Hoa from Block 10 and Mr. Phung Ba Thu from Block 8, Nghi Thuy Ward (Cua Lo town), thanks to loans from the Government's Decree 67/CP, have built two composite-hulled ships worth over 12 billion VND with a capacity of 822 horsepower, allowing them to make voyages of up to 20 days with a carrying capacity of up to 70 tons.

With the current drop in fish prices, the profit per fishing trip for this type of vessel still reaches approximately 200 million VND. Furthermore, with the two vessels financed through the aforementioned loan, the preservation process has been improved thanks to the PU insulated compartments, which provide better insulation compared to the previous method using styrofoam.

To ensure a high-quality seafood supply unaffected by environmental incidents, fishermen often choose distant fishing grounds. Therefore, mutual support and cooperation are highly emphasized. Fishermen have formed teams of 3 to 5 boats. When fishing at sea, these teams maintain communication about high-quality, high-value fish areas and provide timely assistance in case of incidents. In Hoang Mai town alone, 66 offshore fishing teams have been established, and two co-management groups for coastal fisheries have been formed in Quynh Lap and Quynh Phuong, with over 350 fishing households participating.

A fish buyer in Quynh Thuan commune.

In Quynh Luu district, there are currently 110 fishing cooperative groups operating at sea. In the communes of Quynh Long, Quynh Thuan, Tien Thuy, Son Hai, etc., an average of 5-7 boats form one cooperative group with the aim of helping each other in fishing at sea; preventing and mitigating natural disasters; and providing fuel and food when needed. This cooperation creates a solid support system for fishermen both at sea and on land.

Faced with difficulties in selling their products, fishermen have reached agreements with several purchasing and processing companies to ensure a stable market. In addition, most fishermen try to sell all their fish; if there are no consumers, they sell them to businesses that process animal feed. This is a temporary measure, but it still helps to offset some of their costs.

Overcoming challenges, fishermen along the coast of Nghe An province are striving to stay at sea and always hope that consumers will regain confidence in the clean seafood they catch. On this difficult journey, fishermen hope that relevant authorities will inspect the quality of seafood and connect them with more markets to ensure better sales of their catch.

With a vast maritime area of ​​over 4,200 square nautical miles, Nghe An's marine resources are considered quite abundant, boasting over 267 fish species, 62 of which are of high economic value. The estimated reserves of marine fish exceed 80,000 tons, including valuable species such as pomfret, mackerel, snapper, and scad, as well as 20 species of shrimp with reserves of 610-680 tons. To exploit the potential of marine resources, the province's fishing fleet is developing in a direction that gradually reduces the number of vessels with a capacity of less than 20 horsepower, while the number of large-capacity vessels for offshore fishing is increasing rapidly to serve deep-sea fishing, thereby gradually reducing coastal and inshore fishing activities.

Hoang Vu