It is the 10th lunar month, the northeast monsoon is blowing, signaling the beginning of the Bac fish season for fishermen in the province. This is also the main fishing season of the year, although the output is not as much as the southern fish season, but many types of fish with high economic value are harvested, leading to better income for fishermen.
Favorable southern fish crop
In early November 2023, at Con Cha fishing port and Phu Hai fishing port (Phan Thiet city), the bustling scene of seafood transportation up and down is no longer like a month ago. In addition, forecasts of strong winds, big waves and thunderstorms at sea have caused hundreds of large and small boats to be stuck close together along the Ca Ty river in recent days. Every year, when the sea is rough, fishermen take the opportunity to pull their boats to the dock to repair, patch their nets, buy necessary fishing equipment and listen to the weather for their trip to sea in the winter season.
Fisherman Le Phuoc (Duc Thang ward) shared: “From mid-March until now, the weather and fishing grounds have been quite favorable, so most large and small boats have gone offshore to catch seafood. Although it is the end of the southern fish season, the seafood output from June until now is quite high, so fishermen in the province have taken the opportunity to go fishing. My boat is a trawler, this year the output is good but the price of seafood is cheaper than every year. Therefore, after each 7-10 day trip, the crew is divided from 6-8 million VND/person, compared to previous years, the income is not as high. In the past few days, I heard the forecast of strong winds at sea, so I took the opportunity to check and repair the boat to ensure safety, waiting for favorable weather to continue going offshore.”
Sitting mending nets in Phu Hai fishing port, Mr. Le Van Thanh - Phu Hai ward said: Every year during the bac fish season, the weather is harsh, often with storms, so to ensure a safe trip to sea, checking and repairing machinery is extremely necessary. In this fishing season, occupations such as cage traps, bottom trawling, scooping, and netting... are the main activities because most of them exploit bottom fish that have higher economic value than the southern fish season such as mackerel, tuna... If on average each 10-15 day fishing trip hits a school of fish, catching 3-4 tons will help fishermen earn about 300-400 million VND. However, in recent years, resources have been depleted and fuel prices have increased, so fishermen have to calculate carefully and are encouraged to fish in groups, if they are lucky enough to encounter a large school of fish, fishermen will make a big profit.
Through monitoring weather information, it is forecasted that from November 13 and the following days there will be strong winds, offshore areas and Phu Quy island district will have strong winds of level 5, sometimes level 6, gusting to level 7, rough seas, so Mr. Thanh informed his brothers in the solidarity group to postpone the date of going offshore. Lasting from October of the previous lunar year to March of the following lunar year, despite being affected by many adverse weather conditions, the bac fish season is still considered by fishermen in the province as the main season of the year, because the rougher the weather, the more schools of floating fish and many types of bottom fish with high economic value often appear.
Creating momentum for a bumper crop
Many fishermen in the province shared that the recent southern fishing season was considered favorable in terms of weather and fishing grounds. Not only anchovies, traditional fishing methods such as lead-pull nets, light nets, and nets also caught a lot of silver carp, scad, mackerel, and scad... However, the output was inversely proportional to the price, so after deducting all expenses, fishermen did not make much profit after each trip. Therefore, they were ready to go out to sea to catch the scad season with the belief that the holds would be full of fish and shrimp, lasting until the end of the year so that fishermen could welcome a warm and prosperous Lunar New Year.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in addition to continuing to implement policies to support fishermen in exploiting offshore waters, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Fisheries have coordinated to regularly train and guide fishermen on new scientific and technical advances to increase productivity, efficiency and enhance the value of exploited products. At the same time, propagate and disseminate the 2017 Fisheries Law. In particular, coordinate with the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) to strictly implement the coordination regulations between Binh Thuan and the provinces and functional forces (Navy, Coast Guard, Fisheries Surveillance) in the work of managing, preventing and stopping fishing vessels from violating foreign waters. Regulations on exploitation protect aquatic resources and ensure safety for people and fishing vessels when exploiting at sea. Encourage offshore fishing vessel owners to use 24/7 VMS navigation equipment and fish in a team model to unite and support each other when the weather changes...
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total number of registered fishing vessels as of September 30, 2023 was 5,940, of which 1,958 were fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more. From mid-March 2023 to now, the weather and fishing grounds have been more favorable, most fishing vessels have been operating effectively. Estimated aquatic product output for the whole year of 2023 is 233,000 tons/plan of 210,000 tons (111% of the plan), equal to 100.7% compared to 2022.
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