On the days before the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin, fishermen from Gio Viet commune, Cua Viet town (Gio Linh district), Trieu An commune (Trieu Phong district) returned from the sea with their holds full of yellow scad, anchovy and many other types of aquatic and seafood. Immediately after that, the fishermen were busy preparing to continue going out to sea, clinging to the sea with the wish to catch a lot of fish and shrimp so that their families could have a prosperous and warm Tet.
Many fishing boats hit the jackpot with yellowfin tuna on their first trips of 2024 - Photo: HA
The atmosphere of the days before the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin at Cua Viet Fishing Port (Trieu An Commune, Trieu Phong District) is bustling and bustling with offshore fishing boats anchored close together. From the CPF product preservation cellar of the offshore fishing boat that has just docked after a fishing trip at sea, fresh batches of yellowtail and anchovy are quickly transferred by fishermen and traders to refrigerated trucks to be transported to other places for consumption. Nearby, many other offshore fishing boats are urgently unloading fishing gear, replenishing food, provisions... to prepare for the trip to the sea.
Sitting on the deck of the fishing boat to rest for a few minutes after a big catch of nearly 17 tons of yellowtail, fisherman Tran Hong Linh in Xuan Ngoc village (Gio Viet commune, Gio Linh), owner of offshore fishing boat number QT 93599 TS, capacity 430 CV, said that taking advantage of the calm weather and calm seas, he took the offshore fishing boat out to catch aquatic and seafood using lead-pull purse seine nets in the fishing grounds around Con Co island.
Purse seine fishing usually operates for 1-3 days/trip and can be done both day and night. Purse seine fishing specializes in exploiting aquatic and marine products in the upper and middle layers of the sea surface using day seine (fishing during the day) and light seine (fishing at night).
At around 2:00 a.m. on January 20, 2024, while operating in the fishing grounds around Con Co Island, the screen of the Sonar transom displayed a large school of moving fish. According to Mr. Linh's judgment, this was a school of yellowfin tuna. He immediately ordered the ship to follow the trail of the yellowfin tuna.
About 30 minutes later, after estimating the yield and main movement direction of the yellowfin tuna, Mr. Linh and the crew on the ship decided to drop the lead-pull seine. The lead-pull seine was quickly dropped into the sea to encircle the yellowfin tuna.
Then, the lead-drawing line system below will pull the school of yellowfin tuna back into the giant net bag. It takes several hours for the lead-drawing net to be pulled up close to the surface by the winch system equipped on the fishing boat.
The yellow catfish weighing from 3 to 7 kg were caught by the crew of the coracle boat using a net until the number of yellow catfish in the net was reduced, then the net was pulled up onto the fishing boat. At around 9:00 a.m. on January 20, 2024, Mr. Linh's boat brought 17 tons of yellow catfish to the dock to sell to traders waiting at the fishing port.
“Getting 17 tons of yellowtail fish onto the ship was exhausting, but in return, my fellow crew members and I were very happy. In recent years, the sea has been suffering from continuous crop failures, and we fishermen have faced many difficulties. Since the beginning of January 2024, thanks to calm weather and calm seas, fishermen from Gio Viet commune have gone out to sea to catch a lot of yellowtail fish, anchovies, and so we are very excited. The 17 tons of yellowtail fish that my ship caught when it docked were bought by traders for 70,000 VND/kg, earning more than 1 billion VND. After this trip, my fellow crew members and I will rest for a few days and then continue to go out to sea, sticking to the sea until Tet,” Linh shared.
Nearby, fisherman Duong Van Diet in Xuan Tien village (Gio Viet commune, Gio Linh), owner of offshore fishing boat number QT - 93331 TS, capacity 400 CV, is preparing ice and necessities with his crew for a trip to the sea to work as a baker around the fishing grounds of Con Co island. Diet said that 2023 is a year of difficult and unprofitable fishing due to increasingly depleted fishing grounds. For example, his offshore fishing boat has gone to sea dozens of times, and more than half of the trips are "oil losses".
In recent days, many fishing boats in Gio Viet commune, Cua Viet town have caught 3-7 tons of anchovies per trip. His family's boat alone caught more than 3 tons of anchovies during the last 2-day trip and sold them to traders, earning nearly 50 million VND. Now that Tet is here, the boats of fishermen in Gio Viet commune, Cua Viet town are always ready to go out to sea, clinging to the sea with the hope of catching a lot of yellow catfish, anchovies... to earn income to cover their living expenses and celebrate the joyful and warm New Year of Giap Thin.
Vice Chairwoman of Gio Viet Commune People's Committee Hoang Thi Thu Thuy said that the whole commune has 128 fishing boats and ships with a total capacity of 19,054 horsepower. Of which, there are 45 offshore fishing boats with a total capacity of 17,976 horsepower...
Currently, the purse seine and scooping profession in Gio Viet commune is developing and bringing high economic efficiency. From this profession, many offshore fishing boats of fishermen in the commune have earned tens to hundreds of millions of VND after each fishing trip. From January 17 to now, local fishermen have had a big catch of yellow catfish, mullet... On average, each fishing trip (lasting from 1 to 3 days), each boat catches from 3 to 7 tons of fish. With a selling price of about 70,000 VND/kg of yellow catfish, from 14,000 to 15,000 VND/kg of mullet, fishermen have earned hundreds of millions of VND. Notably, in January 2024 alone, the output of all kinds of aquatic and marine products exploited in Gio Viet commune reached 300 tons.
Hai An
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