( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - Purse seining is one of the relatively effective fishing methods for fishermen. However, since the beginning of the year, the catch has decreased and the price of fish has been low, causing loss for purse seining vessels, especially those operating in offshore areas. Many vessel owners do not have enough income to cover their expenses, so they have had to leave their vessels on the shore.
Fisherman Bui Van Lan, in Tan Hy 2 village, Binh Dong commune (Binh Son) has been involved in the nearshore purse seine fishing business for nearly 30 years. From a rowboat, Mr. Lan gradually upgraded to a boat with a capacity of nearly 90CV. “Business is very difficult this year. Aquatic resources have decreased significantly, so each month, nearshore purse seine fishing boats like ours can only make 5-7 trips. Compared to last year, income has decreased by 50-60%,” Mr. Lan shared.
In recent days, the purse seine fishing boat of fisherman Cao Tan Dong, in Tan Hy 1 village, Binh Dong commune, has been left on shore. “This season, the waves are big and the water is flowing fast, so the fish don’t follow the school anymore. Going out to sea will result in losses, so I’m temporarily stopping going to sea. If this continues, life will be very difficult,” Dong said.
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| Purse fishing boats of Ly Son fishermen prepare to go offshore to catch seafood. |
According to Binh Dong fishermen, local purse seine fishing vessels only operate in waters about 3-5 nautical miles from shore. The vessels usually set sail at 1-2am and return to shore around 11-12pm the same day. Some vessels that go further afield will return to shore in the early afternoon.
Vice Chairman of Binh Dong Commune People's Committee Nguyen Van Cam said that purse seine fishing is a traditional fishing profession of fishermen in Binh Dong Commune. However, in recent years, purse seine fishing has gradually declined. Currently, there are only about 10 vessels operating purse seine fishing near the shore. Fishermen's fishing activities are also ineffective. The number of days the vessels stay ashore is greater than the number of days at sea.
Ly Son district is one of the localities with a large number of purse seine fishing vessels in the province. Fisherman Mai Ngoc Su, in Dong An Hai village (Ly Son) shared, his vessel specializes in night purse seine fishing, operating a few nautical miles from Ly Son island. In recent months, the vessel has been continuously losing money, so it has only been operating at a moderate pace. Not only has the catch decreased sharply, but the price of fish is also very cheap. The price of mackerel has recently dropped to only 7,000 - 10,000 VND/kg; tuna weighing less than 0.5kg/fish costs 15 - 17,000 VND/kg; anchovies cost 16 - 17,000 VND/kg.
Huynh Cong Tri, Deputy Head of the Economic and Rural Infrastructure Division of Ly Son District, said that there are about 70 purse seine fishing vessels in the district. In previous years, purse seine fishing vessels caught fish very well, bringing good income to fishermen. But this year, most of the purse seine fishing vessels are facing difficulties. The catch has decreased by 40-50% compared to previous years. In addition to the decrease in output, fish prices are also low, so many vessels are losing money.
In addition to Binh Dong commune and Ly Son district, there are a number of other coastal localities in the province that also practice purse seine fishing in the open sea and offshore areas such as Pho Quang ward (Duc Pho town), Tinh Ky commune (Quang Ngai city). There are many types of purse seine fishing such as day purse seine, night purse seine, light purse seine combined with trawling. The unstable operation of purse seine fishing has greatly affected the income of fishermen. However, fishermen have not been able to change their jobs due to high costs, while many other marine occupations are also facing difficulties due to increasingly depleted aquatic resources.
Article and photos: HONG HOA
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Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/kinh-te/bien-kinh-te-bien/202410/bap-benh-nghe-luoi-vay-6e21e41/
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