Nghe An fishermen hit the jackpot with tuna

Fishermen transport fish from boat to shore. Photo: Thanh Thuy

After 9 days at sea, the fishing boat of fisherman Nguyen Van Phan, owner of the ND-92918 boat, docked with 1.5 tons of mackerel. He said that fishermen catch mackerel all year round, but the peak production season only lasts for the last few months of the year. Currently, the fishing season is in full swing, so many boats are taking advantage of favorable weather to go offshore.

Fisherman Nguyen Van Phan's boat has 6 workers. After using a transducer to detect a school of mackerel, the boat dropped its net and caught a large catch. Quynh Phuong fishing port is spacious and convenient for anchoring. The purchase price here is high, so his boat decided to stop here. This trip, his boat made a profit of over 250 million VND, each worker received 30 million VND.

Fish are purchased by seafood purchasing establishments right on the wharf. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Not far away, while quickly passing fresh mackerel from the ship's hold to the shore, fisherman Ho Van Trung in Quynh Phuong Ward happily said that this trip lasted 8 days, fishing in the Gulf of Tonkin. The weather was favorable, and he caught a large amount of mackerel, so the ship owner gave him 15 million VND, giving him additional income to ensure his family's life.

In Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town alone, there are two large boats specializing in catching mackerel, the boats of Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong and Hoang Van Viet. On the last trip, Mr. Phuong's boat caught nearly 4 tons of mackerel, selling for more than 700 million VND; Mr. Viet's boat got nearly 180 million VND.

Traders transport fish to sell at markets. Photo: Thanh Thuy

According to local records, from dawn, dozens of large-capacity boats from Nghe An, Nam Dinh, and Quang Tri provinces were anchored waiting to transport fish ashore. The ship's holds were full of mackerel and many other valuable seafood. On shore, traders were waiting to buy the freshest batches of fish. The working atmosphere became even more bustling, with most boats opening for sale from 2-3 am. On average, after a 7-10 day trip at sea, each vehicle docked to sell 1-3 tons of mackerel to the fish market.

Ms. Phan Thi Xuyen, owner of a seafood purchasing warehouse in Quynh Phuong ward, said: In recent days, there have been many fishing boats coming back, some days up to 20 boats. On low days, I can buy 7-10 tons of mackerel, on high days up to 20 tons. At this time, the price of mackerel has not reached its peak, but in return, the output is high. The last trip close to Tet will have less output, at that time the price of fish can reach 230-250,000 VND/kg.

Mackerel is divided into many types, the price of type 1 is 175 thousand VND/kg, type 2 fish is priced from 165 thousand VND/kg. With the current price, each vehicle selling fish to the warehouse has an income of 200 - 250 million VND.

Grade 1 mackerel costs 175,000 VND/kg at the port. Photo: Thanh Thuy

According to fishermen, it is currently the main season for mackerel, the sea is calm so boats are taking advantage of the opportunity to go offshore to catch fish in time for Tet, when prices will be higher. Fishermen have a good season, and services at the port also have jobs and income. On average, in the past few days, warehouse owners at Quynh Phuong fishing port have bought from 10 to 15 tons of fish, mainly mackerel. Most of the fish are brought back to store in cold storage to sell during Tet, a small amount is sold retail to markets in and outside the province.

Besides mackerel, fishing boats also catch many other valuable seafood such as hairtail, grouper, squid, pomfret, etc. After successful fishing trips with good prices, local fishermen are busy preparing fishing gear to expand their fishing grounds. The upcoming fishing trip will last until around December 20-23 of the lunar calendar, after which the boats will return home for Tet holiday.

Bustling fishing port market in the early morning. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Mr. Ho Xuan Huong - Chairman of Quynh Phuong Ward People's Committee assessed: " The local offshore fishing output in the last months of the year has increased. In recent days, people have had a consecutive harvest of mackerel and many other valuable fish, with quite high prices. This is the golden time for fishermen to fish, contributing to economic development, enriching their families and society. In addition, Quynh Phuong port is also the landing place for many ships from other provinces, so the purchasing output is large."

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