Huge income from seafaring

(Baonghean) - In Quynh Luu, people working in the fishing industry earn an average of 80 million VND/year, nearly three times higher than other professions. Some people even earn several hundred million VND/month.

» Nghe An fishermen: 'If I don't go to sea for a day, I feel anxious'

A corner of Tien Thuy coastal commune (Quynh Luu) today. Photo: Viet Hung

Huge income from seafaring

With high production output and stable prices, fishing is becoming a way to get rich for people in coastal areas. Fisherman Nguyen Van Minh in Dai Bac village, Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu), with more than ten years of experience at sea and boldly investing in building large ships with large engines, currently owns 3 wooden-hulled ships with a capacity of 500 - 700 CV, earning 200 - 300 million VND/month.

In addition, in Quynh Long commune, there are many fishermen who have become rich from fishing with an income of 20 - 30 million VND/month, such as Mr. Nguyen Sang in Dai Hai village, Nguyen Ba Thao in Phu Lien village and Nguyen Van Chat...

For fisherman Truong Thanh in Quynh Nghia commune, from fishing at sea, he also earns 200 - 300 million VND per year. Mr. Thanh registered for a loan to build a ship under Decree 67. After more than 1 year of using this ship for fishing, he has always achieved high yields; on average, each fishing trip earns 300 - 400 million VND, each crew member on the ship earns 8 - 10 million VND per trip.

The development of fishing industry has led to the strong development of many onshore fishing logistics services such as processing, trade, etc. Although not located close to the sea, Quynh Ngoc commune (Quynh Luu) has long had a relatively developed fishing industry, including hamlets 12 and 13 (Song Ngoc village) where people mainly live on marine resources.

Before mid-2016, Song Ngoc village had 36 boats creating jobs for about 300 male workers directly involved in fishing, and at least the same number of women participating in trading fish and marine products, serving the fishing industry.

Bustling fishing boats returning at Lach Quen estuary. Photo: Viet Hung

In Song Ngoc village, the fish sauce making industry is also very developed, bringing a good income to the people. The day we visited, the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien - a fish sauce processing household in Song Ngoc, was pouring a concrete floor in front of the house to expand the fish sauce drying area. Ms. Hien shared: Currently, the family has more than 300 fermentation tanks, producing about 24,000 liters of fish sauce each year, but it is still not enough to meet market demand.

With a selling price of 60,000 - 70,000 VND/liter, the family earns a profit of 150 - 200 million VND per year. The family also creates jobs for regular workers with a stable income of 5 million VND/person/month and some seasonal workers.

In the past 5 years, thanks to fish sauce processing, the lives of people in Song Ngoc parish have improved, the rate of well-off households accounts for more than 50% of the total number of households in hamlets 12 and 13; the rate of poor households decreased to 6% in 2017 (in 2010, the rate of poor households was over 30%). The fish sauce industry is also creating regular jobs for about 100 local workers with a stable income of 4.5 - 5 million VND/person/month.

Chart of production results in coastal districts and towns in the first quarter of 2017. Graphics: Nam Phong

Income is much higher than other jobs

In An Hoa commune (Quynh Luu), although there are only 2 villages with fishing profession, 84 boats with 336 fishing workers, the value of seafood catches accounts for 20% of the economic value of the whole commune.

Mr. Le Xuan Quyet - Vice Chairman of An Hoa Commune People's Committee said: "In 2016, the total production value of the commune reached 335 billion VND, of which seafood fishing alone reached nearly 70 billion VND, while the salt industry with about 2,000 workers in the profession but the value only reached 10%; currently, the average income of the commune is 26 million VND/person/year, but in Tan An village alone - where people live mainly by fishing, the income reached over 30 million VND/person/year".

In Quynh Long commune, in 2016, the total production value of the commune reached 627.7 billion VND; of which, fishing and aquaculture alone accounted for more than half (reaching more than 370 billion VND), the marine industry created stable jobs for 1,800 male workers at sea; more than 2,500 female workers worked as net menders and seafood service businesses, with an average income of 37 million VND/person/year...

Thanks to the strong development of seafood fishing in the communes of Quynh Long, Son Hai, Tien Thuy, and Quynh Nghia, people's lives here are much more prosperous than in some other localities in the district.

Mr. Dang Ngoc Binh - Vice Chairman of Quynh Luu District People's Committee said: Fishing and developing the marine economy to create the main source of income is more effective than other occupations in coastal localities. In Quynh Luu District, there are about 10,000 seafood fishing workers, with an average income of 80 million VND/person/year (of which purse seine fishing is 120 million VND/person/year; fishing and hooking is about 60 million VND/person/year); meanwhile, other occupations only reach an average of 29 million VND/person/year.

In general, in Nghe An today, seafood exploitation, processing and supply activities are very vibrant. People from sea fish trading, net mending to fishing are all excited because from effectively exploiting marine resources, life is constantly improving with many households getting rich. People said that they hope to continue to receive support from the State to invest in building large-capacity ships to go offshore and stick to the sea more actively.

PV Group