Fishing boats over 400 CV in Nghe An 'hit every target'

(Baonghean) - According to statistics, Nghe An's offshore fleet increased from 848 ships (in 2010) to about 1,400 ships (in 2016), accounting for 35% of the total number of ships.

Preparing fishing gear for the trip. Photo: CL

However, the number of boats from 90-250CV still accounts for a large proportion, mainly fishing in offshore areas. This causes inadequacies in the structure of boats, increasing the risk of depletion of aquatic and marine resources near the shore.

Inshore fishing vessels remain at 68.5%

According to statistics, the whole province currently has 3,900 fishing vessels, of which offshore vessels with a capacity of 90 - 250 CV currently have 515 vessels, vessels with a capacity of 250 - 400 CV currently have 352 vessels, however, "giant" vessels over 400 CV currently have only about 500 vessels.

Although the offshore fleet in Nghe An is growing rapidly, the fleet of high-quality, efficient fishing vessels is still small, mainly 90-250CV vessels fishing in offshore areas. The proportion of nearshore and offshore fishing in the fleet currently accounts for 68.5% (including 2,655 vessels). This causes inadequacies in the structure of vessels, increasing the risk of depletion of nearshore aquatic and marine resources.

Meanwhile, ships with over 400 CV fishing in far-off waters "win wherever they go". Mr. Dao Hung's ship in Hamlet 9, Quynh Thuan Commune (Quynh Luu) with registration number NA 94439 TS was bought in Binh Dinh, with a capacity of 900 CV worth 6 billion VND. Because it was bought in another province, Mr. Hung was not entitled to the offshore vessel loan policy. He said that every trip he made was profitable, the least profitable trip was 100 million VND, there was a trip he made 1 billion VND, thanks to that, in just 2 years he was able to pay back 2/3 of the loan. Thanks to the good catches, the crew earns several hundred million VND each year.

Fish returning to Lach Quen wharf. Photo: CL

Development of large capacity fleet

In recent years, Nghe An has had over 101 large-capacity vessels built under the support program of Decree 67/2014/ND-CP. At the same time, realizing the benefits of large-capacity vessels, many fishermen have contributed capital to invest in building large offshore vessels. That has contributed to increasing the province's offshore fishing fleet from 848 vessels (in 2010) to about 1,400 vessels (in 2016).

The fishing boat with the license plate 96767 of Mr. Lam in Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu) has a capacity of 950 CV, and cost 6 billion VND with 12 capital contributions. Mr. Lam said: The boat is big so the fishing is safer, the hold is wide so it is easy to move, easy to arrange fish and when encountering a large fish, all can be caught, not wasting. The boat is big so the whole team can stay at sea for longer. After deducting 70 million VND in expenses, the profit is hundreds of millions of VND. There are trips with a profit of 500 million VND, the crew's income reaches 8-10 million VND/month.

Building large ships over 400 CV is the most important solution for the fleet to increase fishing efficiency and protect near-shore aquatic resources. Currently, 67 ships have been borrowed to build new ships according to Decree 67 of the Government but it is not enough to meet the needs of fishermen.

According to the strategy for developing the fishing fleet of Nghe An province in the period of 2016 - 2030, the whole province will have to implement many solutions to increase large vessels and gradually reduce small vessels, in which dismantling and converting fishing vessels is an important task.

Mr. Nguyen Chi Luong - Head of Nghe An Fisheries Department added: The types of fishing that are likely to develop strongly in the coming years are: Tuna trawling, 3-layer trawling, squid fishing, longline fishing, squid capture, lead-pull seine... In addition, it is possible to develop some selective nearshore fishing occupations such as 3-layer trawling, line fishing, crab trapping,... Especially offshore fishing and offshore trawling are highly selective, catching species with export value but low input costs for production. Therefore, developing large-capacity vessels and reducing small-capacity vessels is an inevitable solution".

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Chau Lan