Increasing the value of marine products in Quynh Lap

(Baonghean) - Promoting the advantages of the coastal area, Quynh Lap commune promotes seafood exploitation, considering it a key economic sector. Therefore, fishermen here have made efforts to build large ships, large engines, go offshore to fish, and at the same time, promote linkages in fishing services, ensuring sustainable development of the marine industry.

Before 2005, Quynh Lap was a commune that had difficulty in finding outlets for its seafood products because the commune did not have a fishing port. Hundreds of ships and boats, after returning from the sea, had to bring their products to Quynh Phuong ward for sale; the consumption was slow, affecting production. Faced with these difficulties and challenges, in recent years, the local government has focused on promoting three areas: exploitation, processing and consumption of products.

Workers work at Hoi Chau fish drying facility, Quynh Lap commune.

To achieve the goals, the People's Committee of Quynh Lap commune has a policy of bidding and leasing land to build fishing wharves. Two fishing wharves were built with the consent of the Provincial People's Committee, which are the fishing wharves of Doan Ket Cooperative and Lien Thanh Joint Stock Company. These two fishing wharves have been in operation since 2008, creating favorable conditions for consuming products for fishermen, contributing to solving employment for workers on shore, especially women.

Ms. Tran Thi Hoa in Hop Tien hamlet confided: “In the past, Quynh Lap women could only rely on each fishing trip of their husbands because the commune did not have a fishing port, the boats had to go all the way to Quynh Phuong to sell... Now the boats return locally, there is stable work. In the commune, there are also large steaming and drying kilns, not to mention seafood purchasing facilities that always need workers, so every day the women can earn from 200 to 300 thousand VND, sometimes 500 thousand VND/person/day...”.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai, who has 5 years of experience working at the Hoi Chau fish drying facility, said: “We are very happy to have a stable income of 5 million VND per month because we have a job and income to improve our family life. The Hoi Chau fish drying facility has created jobs for over 100 workers, mainly women in the commune.

Currently, in Quynh Lap commune, there are 5 fish steaming and drying furnaces, 1 fishmeal processing factory, 7 cold storages, consuming 25,000 to 29,000 tons of seafood per year. Besides, there are also small seafood purchasing facilities that are also operating effectively.

Mr. Tran Dinh Chieu, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: After establishing 2 fishing ports, the commune supported fishermen to borrow capital from banks to develop the fishing industry; created conditions and support policies for fishermen to purchase modern equipment for the fishing industry. The whole commune has 265 ships and boats, of which 165 are offshore fishing boats, with a total output of over 30,000 tons/year. Since having 2 fishing ports, fish meal milling factories, fish drying furnaces, cold storages... the fishermen's catch has been fully consumed and created more jobs for workers on shore.

Thu Huong