Fishermen rush into the Southern fishing season

Fishing boats of fishermen in Cua Viet town, Gio Linh district go offshore to catch fish in the Southern season - Photo: LA

Busy going out to sea

These days, at fishing ports in the province, there is a bustling scene of boats taking turns docking to unload seafood to sell to traders, refueling, and ice to prepare for going offshore. At the fishing port of Ben Ca Cho Cua Viet, along with his fellow fishermen, he is urgently transporting ice, food, and provisions onto the ship to prepare for a long sea voyage in the Hoang Sa fishing grounds. Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan in Cua Viet town, captain of the steel-hulled ship QT 96969TS, said that in preparation for this year's southern fishing season, he has carefully prepared fishing gear, modern equipment such as GPS, fish finders, etc. Currently, the weather is favorable, there are many floating fish streams, so his fishing boat as well as other fishing boats of local fishermen are focusing on going offshore to catch fish.

At Cua Viet fishing port, just arriving at shore after a long sea trip, fisherman Tran Hong Linh in Cua Viet town, Gio Linh district, owner of fishing boat number QT 95767TS, was busy urging his crew to unload the caught seafood to sell to traders.

At the same time, he continuously called agents to order more ice and fuel to prepare for the next trip. According to Mr. Linh, in 2024, thanks to actively fishing at sea, after deducting expenses and paying his crew, he made a profit of about 1 billion VND. To prepare for the Nam fish season, he invested hundreds of millions of VND in repairing machinery and fishing gear to fish more effectively.

Mr. Le Van Son, Director of Quang Tri Fishing Port Management Board, said that although the Southern fishing season has just begun, Cua Viet fishing port currently receives an average of 10-15 fishing boats docking at the port every day to unload seafood; load and unload ice, fuel, fishing gear to go offshore. Many fishing boats, after a period of fishing, have caught many types of seafood with high economic value such as: mackerel, tuna, mackerel, anchovy, squid... bringing in hundreds of millions of VND in income per trip.

To support fishermen, the fishing port has maintained a 24/7 force to arrange and guide boats entering and leaving the port and arrange locations for transport vehicles to conveniently load and unload seafood. At the same time, it has stepped up propaganda to raise fishermen's awareness in complying with regulations against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the 2017 Fisheries Law.

Accompanying fishermen

Gio Linh district currently has over 860 fishing vessels of all kinds, including 164 fishing vessels over 15 m long with more than 1,550 workers regularly participating in offshore fishing. In 2024, the total catch of aquatic products in the district will reach over 16,000 tons, affirming its position as a leading locality in marine exploitation. Vice Chairman of Gio Linh District People's Committee Phan Van Hoa informed that although the southern fishing season has just begun, at this time most of the large-capacity fishing vessels in the district have gone offshore to the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa fishing grounds.

Small boats are also bustling in the open sea and coastal areas. Many fishing trips have brought in high-value catches of fish, helping fishermen earn tens to hundreds of millions of VND per trip. According to Mr. Hoa, in order for the Nam fishing season to be effective, Gio Linh district has directed coastal localities to strengthen solidarity teams at sea since the beginning of the year, encourage fishermen to maintain boats, upgrade machinery, add fishing gear and fish finders. Fishermen are required to sign a commitment to combat IUU fishing, ensure compliance with regulations on installing voyage monitoring equipment, keeping fishing logs, not crossing maritime boundaries and entering and leaving designated fishing ports.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Huu Vinh emphasized that the Southern fishing season is the main fishing season of the year, with diverse catch types, especially pelagic fish such as anchovies, mackerel, herring, silver carp, squid of all kinds...; it is a fishing season with a large output, bringing the main source of income for fishermen.

To exploit effectively, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has actively coordinated with coastal localities to guide fishermen to organize production at sea in groups, teams, especially in offshore fishing grounds; promote production for some occupations that consume less fuel, using ships with suitable capacity.

Guide and support fishermen in maintaining and repairing boats, equipping them with modern exploitation equipment such as: automatic steering machines, hydraulic winches on fishing boats; apply advanced technologies to improve the quality of aquatic products in preservation, minimizing post-exploitation losses; encourage logistics services at sea such as: purchasing products, providing oil, necessities right at sea and on islands to reduce fuel costs for fishing boats when they have to return to port to unload products.

Guide ship owners and captains to effectively use weather forecast information, fishing grounds, and modern marine equipment to minimize travel costs to find fishing grounds and resources and increase exploitation efficiency.

At the same time, mobilize businesses and traders in the province to share benefits with fishermen in the value chain of production and exploitation of aquatic products to increase product value; especially only purchasing and unloading aquatic products at fishing ports in accordance with regulations to contribute to combating IUU fishing.

“For fishermen, the Nam fish season is not only a fishing season but also an opportunity to affirm the spirit of sticking to the sea, both enriching the family and contributing to maintaining the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland,” said Mr. Vinh.

Le An

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/ngu-dan-hoi-ha-vao-vu-ca-nam-192703.htm