Fishermen desperately search for crew members.

The first few months of 2025 saw relatively favorable weather, making it easy to catch seafood near the shore. However, many boats only went out to sea sparingly due to a labor shortage, and many boat owners even had to go out to sea alone.

Fisherman Tran Van Chu sits ashore at Cua Sot port despite it being the peak fishing season because he hasn't found crew members yet - Photo: LE MINH

Meanwhile, offshore fishing vessels in many localities are forced to stay ashore or have their crew size halved due to the inability to find laborers.

The income from seafaring is precarious and the work is arduous, while opportunities for overseas employment or work in industrial zones offer lighter jobs, higher incomes, and greater stability, causing most young people to lose interest in seafaring.

Due to a labor shortage, the ship owner has to go to sea alone.

Visiting the Cua Sot port's mooring area (Thach Ha district, Ha Tinh province ) in recent days, we observed a rather gloomy atmosphere as dozens of boats lay motionless ashore, unable to set sail due to a severe labor shortage.

While preparing his fishing gear on his 90CV boat, Mr. Tran Van Chu (48 years old, residing in Loc Ha town, Thach Ha district) lamented that although the weather had been fine for the past few days and all preparations for the fishing trip were complete, the lack of crew members meant his family's boat was still docked.

Mr. Chu's boat is used for fishing with gillnets and squid fishing, 12 nautical miles from shore. Each trip requires at least four fishermen, but since the Lunar New Year, there has been a severe labor shortage because the old crew members have found other jobs. Therefore, at times, only two people have to take the boat out to sea to fish.

"This ship should have been out fishing today, but because we couldn't find enough workers, I couldn't take the ship out alone. There were times when we found workers, but not enough, so when we went out to sea, the work was very hard, and the time at sea was shorter, resulting in higher costs," Mr. Chu said.

According to Mr. Chu, the shortage of seafaring labor is due to the precarious nature of the profession. Some trips yield abundant catches of seafood that fetch high prices, while others only bring in meager profits. The unstable income, coupled with the arduous work and frequent nights spent at sea, has led many fishermen to abandon the profession.

The inability of boats to go out to sea leaves boat owners without income, while if wooden boats remain docked ashore, they will be quickly damaged by barnacles and other marine organisms, leading to increased repair and maintenance costs.

Similarly, fisherman Nguyen Van Trung (47 years old, Thach Kim commune, Thach Ha district) said that due to a shortage of labor, his 24CV fishing boat only has a few people on each trip. Sometimes he can't even find enough people, so he has to go out to sea alone.

With no local labor available, Mr. Trung had visited several fishing villages many times to recruit crew members, but always returned empty-handed. It was difficult to find young, strong crew members, while those with experience were older and unwilling to leave their families to work far away.

"Being alone in the vast ocean is both lonely and extremely hard work. But if we don't go out to sea, we won't have any income. Many boat owners, after a solo trip, are forced to leave their boats ashore and look for laborers because they are not in good health. If this situation continues, it will be difficult for us to maintain our regular seafaring profession," Mr. Trung said.

Young people go abroad for work, the elderly go to sea.

Explaining the reason for the shortage of seafaring laborers, Mr. Chu said that the income from seafaring is unstable, with some trips being successful and others not, so many people are no longer interested in the profession.

Furthermore, for many years now, there have been great opportunities for overseas employment, offering high incomes, so most young people in the village have gone abroad. Therefore, those who still make a living from fishing here are mainly 50 years old and above, and the majority are boat owners.

Mr. Tran Van Han, chairman of the People's Committee of Loc Ha town (Thach Ha district), said that in the past, there were times when marine resources were scarce, fishing efficiency was low, and the cost of going to sea was high, so many people were not enthusiastic about fishing.

Meanwhile, the majority of local young people have gone abroad for work, and the number of young people who remain at home are few and far between, making it very difficult for fishermen to find crew members.

Mr. Pham Duy Khanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thach Kim commune (Thach Ha district), said that fishing has been a traditional occupation of local fishermen for hundreds of years. However, due to a shortage of labor for seafaring, many fishermen's boats are forced to remain docked.

In Thach Kim commune, most of the fishermen are elderly, while the number of young people continuing the traditional profession is very small, so the number of boats in the area is decreasing year by year.

In the 2020s, the entire commune had about 110 boats, but now that number has decreased to 96. The decrease in the number of boats is mainly due to people selling them because they cannot recruit laborers for seafaring.

"The labor force for seafaring is scarce because the local youth are choosing to go abroad for work or pursue education and then work far from home."

"Preliminary statistics show that over 1,200 young people in the locality have gone to work abroad, not including a large number who have gone through unofficial channels. Meanwhile, fishermen also face difficulties finding work in other localities due to unstable income and the difficulty in attracting crew members," Mr. Khanh lamented.

According to Mr. Khanh, the shortage of seafaring labor in the locality is a rather difficult problem. Without a successor generation, there is a concern that the traditional profession will gradually disappear.

Therefore, both the local authorities and the fishermen hope that the government will have policies and support for each fishing trip so that fishermen can feel secure in continuing their work at sea.

Fishermen prepare nets and fishing gear at Dong Hai fishing port (Phan Rang - Thap Cham city) before heading out to sea - Photo: AN ANH

Young people are no longer interested in seafaring as a profession.

On March 12th, observations at Hon Ro fishing port (Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa province ) showed that many fishing boats were still anchored in the harbor because they were unable to go out to sea. Mr. Le Van Dung, the captain of a fishing boat at Hon Ro port, said that since Tet (Lunar New Year), his boat has been unable to go out to sea due to a shortage of seafaring laborers.

"Each fishing trip takes half a month, and offshore fishing requires at least 10 crew members, but I still haven't found enough people and have to wait to recruit more," Mr. Dung said. Many other fishing boats are also docked at the port due to a shortage of seafaring laborers.

Mr. Le Tan Ban, chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Fisheries Association, believes that the shortage of seafaring labor is due to the low income from fishing, the lack of interest among local youth, and the fact that others have pursued education and found easier jobs in large cities, leading to a dwindling number of seafaring workers in the locality.

An advance payment is necessary to retain the crew.

Mr. Pham Luu Hien, head of the Dong Hai fishing port management board (Phan Rang - Thap Cham city, Ninh Thuan province), said that the shortage of crew members usually occurs during the peak season of the southern fishing season (April to September in the lunar calendar). This is the time when fishing boats using mixed nets to catch anchovies have a very good harvest, high income, and can return within a day, so crew members flock to the area.

Conversely, fishing vessels engaged in long-distance trawling and gillnet fishing for mackerel and tuna are experiencing a shortage of crew members. According to some fishermen in Ninh Thuan, to retain crew members, boat owners have to pay advance payments of 1-3 million VND per person to ensure their peace of mind while at sea. "In addition to the income paid to crew members after each trip, on average, each fishing vessel has to spend 15-25 million VND in advance payments to retain crew members for the next trip," said one boat owner.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ngu-dan-do-mat-tim-ban-di-bien-20250313013043297.htm