(Quang Ngai Newspaper) - Since the end of 2024, many fishing boats in Pho An commune, Pho Quang ward (Duc Pho town), An Phu commune (Quang Ngai city) have been stranded due to silting at seaports. The silting of seaports, especially in Cua Dai and My A areas, has been recurring for many years, making it impossible for large-capacity boats to dock, greatly affecting fishing activities.
Fishermen in trouble
In recent days, a series of fishing boats of fishermen in An Phu commune have been continuously stranded when entering and leaving Cua Dai estuary. Unable to reach the shore, many boats have to anchor offshore, then row out in basket boats to transport seafood to shore for sale and vice versa to refuel and refuel before going out to sea. This not only affects the production efficiency of fishermen, but also limits the socio-economic development of the locality.
Fisherman Pham Van Hung shared, my boat is 13m long, with a capacity of 160CV. Previously, my boat and many other boats often went out to sea to fish in the afternoon before and returned to shore the next morning. However, now the estuary is seriously silted up, so we have to wait for the tide to go. The other day, after fishing, I drove back to Cua Dai estuary at around 5am, but after an hour I still couldn't get through. I was afraid that if I left the boat for too long without unloading the seafood, it would affect the quality and I would miss the market, so I had to call my family to row a small boat to bring the seafood to sell. The boat had to wait until 9am, when the tide was at its highest, to return to shore.
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| A sandbar emerging in Cua Dai area, An Phu commune (Quang Ngai city) causes difficulties in anchoring boats of local fishermen. |
According to fishermen, at the highest tide and the deepest water level at Cua Dai estuary is 1 - 1.2m. The shallowest point is only 0.5 - 0.7m deep. Therefore, many fishing boats have run aground or damaged machinery and equipment when trying to cross the estuary to reach shore. Currently, the Cua Dai area is seriously silted up, with a length of about 2km and only about 100m left to completely silt up the estuary.
Along with Cua Dai, silting also occurred at My A estuary, Pho Quang ward. To get fishing boats out of My A estuary to go out to sea after the long Tet holiday, fisherman Nguyen Van Chi, owner of fishing boat QNg 98268 TS, in Pho Quang ward, had to watch for the rising tide (around 11pm - 0am). "Although I watched for the tide, I still had to ask another boat to tow me out of the estuary, because when trying to pass through the estuary, the boat often turned around and could not control its direction. This puts fishermen at risk," fisherman Chi confided.
Need a solution
Currently, An Phu commune has more than 700 fishing boats, of which about 200 are less than 15m in length. These are fishing boats that fish close to shore and in the open sea, often returning during the day, so when the estuary is silted up, it has greatly affected the fishing activities of local fishermen. In addition, hundreds of large-capacity fishing boats have to dock at other ports, not only causing difficulties for seafood exploitation activities, but also causing a serious decline in fishing logistics in An Phu commune.
Vice Chairman of An Phu Commune People's Committee Vo Khanh said that in the immediate future, the commune government has propagated and mobilized fishermen to monitor the situation of high tides, and when the water is high, temporarily move fishing boats to neighboring fishing ports to anchor and go offshore to fish. At the same time, it is recommended that all levels and sectors pay attention, create conditions, dredge and clear the channel, helping fishermen's fishing boats to enter and exit Cua Dai conveniently. In the long term, it is necessary to soon invest in phase 2 of the Storm Shelter for Fishing Boats project combined with Co Luy fishing port, creating conditions for local socio-economic development.
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Director of the Provincial Fishing Port Management Board Nguyen Dinh Trung said that to overcome the silting situation at My A estuary, the Provincial People's Committee has allocated 3 billion VND, assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to organize dredging and clearing the channel. Implementing the direction of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Provincial Fishing Port Management Board has selected a consulting unit and is conducting a survey, preparing a technical report, then approving the project and organizing a construction bidding. It is expected that by the end of the second quarter of 2025, the dredging and clearing of the My A estuary will be completed, creating conditions for ships to enter and exit the port and go offshore. For the Cua Dai area, An Phu commune, the Provincial People's Committee has included it in the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030 to allocate capital for implementation.
Unable to anchor locally, many fishing boats of 15m or more in length have come to Tinh Hoa Boat Anchorage Port (Quang Ngai City) to anchor. This has caused the boat anchorage port to become overloaded. Therefore, in the immediate future, the authorities and fishermen in areas with silted estuaries hope that all levels and sectors will soon have solutions to dredge and clear the estuary, creating favorable conditions for fishermen's boats to enter and anchor, and develop the maritime industry.
Article and photos: HONG HOA
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Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/kinh-te/bien-kinh-te-bien/202502/khac-phuc-tinh-trang-boi-lap-cua-bien-48615cf/
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