Fishermen in Phu Quy Island begin the southern fishing season.

From the very beginning of the southern fishing season, fishermen in Phu Quy have been heading out to sea to catch seafood. Phu Quy fishermen are hoping for a bountiful catch and good prices this year, thanks to more favorable weather and lower diesel prices.

These days, the coastal areas of Phu Quy Island are bustling with boats coming and going, transporting seafood ashore, refueling, and stocking up on necessities to prepare for their next fishing trip.

After returning from a fishing trip, fisherman Nguyen Van Tao (Long Hai commune, Phu Quy district) said: The annual southern fishing season usually starts from April to September according to the lunar calendar. In 2022, the high price of fuel meant that the profits from the trips were not much. Entering the 2023 southern fishing season, the weather is relatively favorable, coupled with lower fuel prices, so fishermen are very motivated to go out to sea and stay there. “I fish with a gillnet. My last trip lasted 10 days, and I caught about 1.5 tons, mainly squid, mackerel, and tuna…,” Mr. Tao said.

Mackerel is abundant during this southern fishing season.

According to Mr. Tao's years of experience, due to favorable weather conditions during this year's southern fishing season, pelagic fish such as mackerel, squid, and cuttlefish have begun to appear in large numbers. In particular, the decrease in fuel prices has reduced the cost of fishing trips, encouraging fishermen to venture out to sea more frequently.

Besides large, powerful vessels that venture far out to sea for extended periods, smaller vessels are also used by fishermen in coastal areas to catch a wide variety of seafood.

Fisherman Doan Van Hong (Long Hai commune, Phu Quy district) usually uses a small boat with two workers to fish about 5-8 nautical miles from the coast; each trip lasts only 2-3 hours, and they can make 2-3 trips a day. "Even on a bad trip, we get a few kilograms, sometimes we're lucky and can catch up to several tens of kilograms. The seafood we catch includes mackerel, squid, etc.," Hong said.

Many fishermen said that seafood, once brought ashore, is bought by traders and distributed to localities within and outside the province, while the rest is sold at local markets in the district. " The economy is starting to recover after the Covid-19 pandemic, which helps seafood sell more easily, thus stabilizing the lives of fishermen," one fisherman said.

Phu Quy Island District has 1,560 boats and ships, of which 589 are 90 horsepower or more. Annual catch reaches 30,000 tons; in 2022, seafood catch reached 35,201 tons. Currently, the entire district has 80 solidarity groups of boats and ships/ships participating in fishing in distant waters, supporting each other in fishing and in handling accidents, storms at sea, and participating in protecting maritime sovereignty .

To date, Phu Quy district has also had 88 newly built boats and 1 upgraded boat under Decree 67, with a total loan capital of over 816 billion VND. Thanks to this support, many fishermen in the district have boldly changed their fishing methods to increase production and the value of their catches.

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