Nghe An fishermen catch dozens of tons of needlefish for export

On this fishing trip, many fishing boats caught a lot of needlefish with revenue of hundreds of millions of VND/boat. Photo: Viet Hung.

Due to low tide at Lach Thoi port, fishing boat NA 903.51 of fisherman Dong Van Manh in Son Hai commune had to dock at Lach Quen port (Quynh Thuan commune). As soon as it docked, traders were already waiting at the port with cars and ice crushers to prepare to purchase seafood.

On this trip, Mr. Manh's fishing boat operated for 10 days with 6 workers and caught more than 1 ton of hairtail fish, 100 kg of dried squid and many other types of fish, earning a revenue of more than 150 million VND. After deducting expenses, each fisherman earned about 10 - 12 million VND.

"It's currently the season for hairtail fish so many fishing boats are catching fish, on average each boat catches 700kg - 1 ton, some boats are lucky enough to catch about 2 - 3 tons. In the past 2 years, hairtail fish have had a lower purchase price but this is still a valuable fish," Mr. Manh shared.

Currently, the price of needlefish purchased at the wharf is 80,000 - 100,000 VND/kg. Photo: Viet Hung

Also arriving at the port this morning, fishing boat number NA 901.53 of fisherman Tran Cao Thu in Quynh Thuan commune caught about 1.2 tons of hairtail fish and 200 kg of fresh squid. Fisherman Thu said that his boat exploited by using a 2-pole cast net combined with a rod to catch seafood. Therefore, all the hairtail fish and fresh squid are large, more valuable than the purse seine net. Since storm No. 4, this is considered the most successful trip.

"We mainly exploit the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. On this trip, there were many needlefish, so we informed other ships to concentrate on exploiting them together. Although they are dozens of nautical miles apart, when we call or send a signal, the fishermen know that there is a fish school there and can come in time," said Mr. Thu.

During this port call, Mr. Tran Cao Thu's boat also carried more than 700 kg of needlefish and 200 kg of fresh squid from a local fishing boat that was also fishing at sea and sent back to shore for sale. When the boat returned to the port, traders gathered to buy. Currently, needlefish are bought at 80,000 - 100,000 VND/kg; fresh squid (sim, flash type) is priced at 60,000 - 100,000 VND/kg...

After storm No. 4, the trips arriving on the morning of September 14 were considered the most successful for Quynh Luu fishermen, achieving both output and income. Photo: Viet Hung

Along with the 2-pole fishing boats, hundreds of purse seine fishing boats have also had success in recent trips. Compared to last year, the catch is uneven, but fishermen still persevere at sea, some trips break even, some trips earn hundreds of millions of dong in profit.

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district, from the beginning of the year until now, seafood exploitation output has reached over 35,000 tons, reaching more than 60% of the yearly plan. In particular, the communes with the strongest seafood fishing profession are Tien Thuy, Quynh Long, Quynh Nghia, Son Hai, Quynh Thuan...

Viet Hung