Phu Yen fishermen have a good tuna season after a trip through Tet

After tuna fishing trips during Tet, fishing ports in Phu Yen province are bustling with boats again, fishermen are excited not only because of high catches but also because the selling price is stable.

Ngư dân Phú Yên trúng mùa cá ngừ sau Tết - Ảnh 1. — The tuna are hoisted out of the hold - Photo: MINH CHIEN

On February 3rd and 4th, at Dong Tac fishing port (Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen province), dozens of tuna fishing boats returned after long voyages spanning the Tet holiday.

Mr. Le Trung Tin, owner of fishing boat PY 90869 TS, said that the boat returned to shore with 60 tuna weighing 40 - 50kg each. After selling the fish and celebrating Tet on the mainland for a few days, he and his crew will continue their tuna fishing trip.

"Although fishing during Tet, everyone is very excited, because it is tuna season, so they try to stay at sea for a long time to catch a lot of fish. The amount of fish sold earned more than 250 million VND, after deducting fuel costs, each of the 5 crew members received about 15 million VND," said Mr. Tin.

Instructing the crew members to carry each tuna from the boat's ice compartment to the port, Mr. Nguyen Hue, captain of fishing boat PY 96617 TS, said that taking advantage of the sunny weather, the crew members on the boat unloaded 70 ocean tuna weighing 35 - 40kg each to shore for sale.

"The trip during Tet was quite favorable, the output was as expected. At the beginning of the year, traders bought at about 100,000 VND/kg, not to mention that this time the price of gasoline has decreased, the cost is lower, so this trip is quite profitable," said Mr. Hue.

According to Mr. Ha Vien - Director of Phu Yen Province Fishing Port Management Board, from December 29 (January 28) to January 6 (February 3), the whole province had 72 tuna fishing boats docking at the port with a yield of nearly 50 tons.

"This year the weather is favorable so the tuna yield is good, fishermen make a profit, the price of grade 1 tuna is bought by traders at about 100,000 VND/kg," said Mr. Vien.

According to the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Phu Yen, the whole province currently has nearly 2,900 fishing vessels at sea, of which more than 400 large-capacity vessels specialize in exploiting ocean tuna, with an annual output of 3,500 - 4,000 tons.

Recently, Phu Yen has implemented a series of solutions to help the tuna fishing industry develop such as: Improving fishing and preservation technology on ships, improving crew skills, linking production teams at sea to shorten the time of sea trips, linking the fleet with purchasing enterprises...