Fishing boats… “away from home”

(Baoquangngai.vn)- The waterways leading to and from My A, Sa Huynh (Duc Pho Town), Co Luy (Quang Ngai City), etc. are often silted up, making it impossible for local fishing boats with large capacity to enter or leave the port to anchor, forcing them to "leave home" to anchor and sell seafood elsewhere.

SEA LANDING, FISHERMEN IN DIFFICULTY

My A fishing port is the anchorage and trading place for hundreds of fishing boats in Pho Quang ward (Duc Pho town) and neighboring localities. However, because it has not been dredged since 2012, recently the sea channel in and out of the port has been seriously silted up, making it impossible for large fishing boats to enter the port to anchor. Fishing boats wanting to enter and exit the port must wait for high tide.

Fisherman Vo Xuan Cam, in Pho Quang ward (Duc Pho town) said that the sea channel leading to and from My A port is heavily silted up, so every time ships and boats enter the port, it is very difficult because the water is too shallow. Ships have to wait until the tide comes in to enter and leave the port, which takes a lot of time.

The My A estuary is silted up, making it difficult for ships to enter and exit.

According to local fishermen, many fishing boats have run aground while entering and leaving the estuary. Many of them were sunk by waves, causing great damage to the property of local fishermen. "Going in and out of the estuary is very difficult. Fishermen need experience and a good understanding of the tidal schedule to safely navigate their vehicles. If the boat is even slightly off course, there is a risk of running aground," said fisherman Nguyen Loi in Pho Quang ward.

Through our research, the channel to and from My A port used to be 4m deep, but now the depth is only under 1.8m. Fishing boats with a capacity of more than 200CV cannot enter and exit the port to anchor, purchase, and exchange products, but must move to Da Nang, Binh Dinh provinces, etc.

The My A boat anchorage area is quite deserted because large capacity ships have not returned to port recently.

According to the My A Fishing Port Management Board, from 2020 to present, due to the impact of silting in and out of the port and My A estuary, the number of vehicles entering the port has tended to decrease. In particular, in the first months of 2024, offshore fishing vessels almost did not enter the port.

Ships “leave their homeland” so fishing logistics services are seriously affected. Hundreds of workers at the port are unemployed and have to find new jobs to stabilize their lives. Ice factories are currently operating at a low level and tend to stop operating. Many seafood processing units have to close due to lack of raw materials. Some units flexibly buy raw materials from other places to produce in order to stabilize jobs for workers, but it costs a lot because of high transportation costs.

The ship did not return to port, so My A fishing port fell into a state of desolation.

Ms. Huynh Thi Hong, owner of a seafood purchasing facility at My A fishing port, said that in the past, the facility purchased about 40-50 tons of seafood per day, but now she can only purchase about 5 tons of seafood per day. "The silting up of the waterways leading to and from My A fishing port has greatly affected fishermen and traders. If we cannot fix it, we will have to find another place to operate. I hope that all levels and sectors will pay attention and fix this silting up situation," Ms. Hong said.

>> Watch Video: Vice Chairman of Duc Pho Town People's Committee Tran Ngoc Sang discusses the situation of land reclamation at My A estuary.

Vice Chairman of Duc Pho Town People's Committee Tran Ngoc Sang said that the silting up of the waterway leading to and from My A fishing port has greatly affected the production and business activities of local fishermen, especially fishermen in Pho Quang ward.

"To ensure that fishermen's fishing boats can enter, exit, operate, anchor, and safely take shelter from storms, contributing to the development of local fisheries and marine economy, especially fishing logistics services, Duc Pho Town People's Committee has proposed that the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development study and consider allocating funds to dredge and fill the channel to and from My A Boat Anchorage Area and My A estuary," said Vice Chairman of Duc Pho Town People's Committee Tran Ngoc Sang.

SO THAT FISHING BOATS DO NOT HAVE TO "LEAVE HOME"

Quang Ngai currently has more than 4,200 fishing vessels, of which nearly 3,100 are over 15m long, with about 37,000 workers directly engaged in production at sea. In recent years, with the attention of all levels and sectors, Quang Ngai province has invested in the construction of 2 fishing ports (Sa Huynh, Tinh Ky) and 3 ports for anchoring ships (Tinh Hoa, Ly Son, My A).

These projects have brought practical benefits to ship owners and fishermen, creating safe anchorages for fishing boats to avoid storms, providing fishing logistics services, consuming fishing products of fishermen in and outside the province, contributing to the economic development of coastal localities.

However, according to fishermen, currently, fishing ports and storm shelters that have been completed and put into use still do not meet the needs of boats in the province for entering, exiting, anchoring and taking shelter from storms.

Sa Huynh fishing port area (Duc Pho town) is often silted up, making it difficult for fishermen to anchor their boats.

Recently, at a thematic meeting of the National Assembly Delegation of Quang Ngai province with fishermen in the province, many fishermen reported the silting situation at Sa Huynh estuary, Pho Thanh ward (Duc Pho town), Lo estuary, Duc Loi commune (Mo Duc), Co Luy estuary, Nghia An commune (Quang Ngai city), etc. At the same time, they requested that all levels and sectors pay attention to arranging funding for dredging.

Fisherman Truong Hoai Phong, Nghia An commune (Duc Pho town) said that for a long time, Co Luy estuary has been seriously silted up, making it very difficult for boats to enter and exit to exploit seafood, endangering the lives and property of fishermen and affecting the lives and production of local people.

“Nghia An commune currently has about 300 large-capacity fishing vessels that have to leave their jobs and anchor at fishing ports in neighboring provinces. To develop the local sustainable fisheries industry, we hope that the province will soon allocate funds to dredge the Co Luy estuary and soon implement phase 2 of the project on the storm shelter for fishing vessels combined with the Co Luy fishing port to create favorable conditions for ships and boats to enter and exit the estuary to exploit aquatic products,” Mr. Phong suggested.

Many large-capacity boats after going out to sea do not return to the provincial port to unload fish but gather at fishing ports in neighboring provinces.

Many large-capacity boats after going out to sea do not return to the provincial port to sell seafood but go to fishing ports in neighboring provinces.

Fishermen want the government to invest in and upgrade fishing ports and three fishing boat mooring areas in the province to facilitate mooring and selling seafood.

Fishermen hope that the State will pay attention to investing in and upgrading fishing ports and fishing boat anchorage areas in the province to facilitate anchoring and selling seafood.

According to statistics, the 3 fishing boat mooring areas in the province can only accommodate more than 30% of the total number of fishing boats in the province. Therefore, many fishing boats in Quang Ngai province have to moor at private fishing ports or along rivers.

At the same time, the infrastructure of fishing ports is still limited, so many large-capacity boats of Quang Ngai province, after going offshore, do not return to the provincial port to sell seafood but concentrate at fishing ports in neighboring provinces. Since then, the logistics services of fishing ports in the province have not developed.

Ships anchored at Ly Son anchorage port.

In order to promote the effectiveness of fishing ports and storm shelters, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed to the Government, ministries and central agencies to pay attention to allocating funds to support the province in investing in the construction of new fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing vessels in Quang Ngai province according to the planning. From there, it will attract fishermen to bring their boats to the province to sell seafood, develop fishing logistics services, provide raw materials for processing enterprises, generate revenue and create jobs for people in the province.

Article and photos: LINH DAN

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