Sustainable development of marine industry in Ly Son

( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - In Ly Son district, many fishermen have contributed money to build boats in the form of "shares" to go to sea. The solidarity and shared responsibility for each member's boat has helped fishing activities and the development of the sea industry in Ly Son become more sustainable.

Shipbuilding Fund

After a long fishing trip in the Truong Sa sea area, fisherman Tran Bien, in Dong An Vinh village (Ly Son) and his crew members came ashore to sell fish, rest, refuel, and prepare for the next trip. This time, thanks to the high price of mackerel (70,000 VND/kg), after deducting expenses, each crew member received from 10 to 30 million VND.

Ly Son fishermen prepare ingredients for a long fishing trip.

Mr. Bien shared, at first, my three brothers and I pooled capital to build a boat to go to sea. Later, many other brothers also asked to pool capital to go fishing together. After many "recruits", our fleet has now grown to 40 people. We do not set a mandatory amount of money to contribute, but it depends on each person's conditions. Therefore, some people spend from 500 - 700 million VND, but others only contribute 30 - 50 million VND. Those who contribute more and have experience will be made captains and the sharing is also based on the amount of money contributed.

For the people on Ly Son island, in addition to growing onions and garlic, fishing is also their main occupation. To buy a boat that is qualified to go offshore fishing, fishermen have to spend billions of dong. However, not everyone has the economic conditions to buy a large boat. Besides, if every household builds a boat to go to sea, it will be very difficult to hire labor. Based on the reality as well as the culture of mutual support of the Ly Son people, the fishermen on the island have chosen to pool capital to build a boat to go to sea.

It is the solidarity and shared responsibility for each member’s ship that has helped fishing activities and the development of the marine industry in Ly Son become more sustainable. Therefore, while other localities struggle to find seafarers, in Ly Son, captains do not have to worry about this problem.

Towards sustainable fisheries

To facilitate fishing and timely bringing fish ashore to sell to traders, fishing fleets in Ly Son district are equipped with both fishing boats and logistics boats. Fisherman Le Van Tan, in Dong An Vinh village, shared that in the past, without logistics boats, after catching a full catch of fish, the boat had to go ashore for about 3 days to sell the fish before continuing to fish. Now that there are logistics boats, fishing can be done with peace of mind, and bringing fish ashore to sell is no longer a concern. On average, a trip out to sea lasts from 17 to 20 days. However, during the fishing process, if there is a stream of fish, it is possible to go fishing right away, the logistics boat will bring the fish back to shore to sell and then return to "replenish" the fishing boat.

In order to support fishermen in developing the marine economy, in recent years, Agribank Ly Son has promoted lending capital for fishermen to build new boats and purchase fishing nets and gear. In Ly Son district, almost every family working at sea has borrowed capital from the bank. Thanks to the loan capital, many fishermen on the island have been able to modernize their fleets with large capacity.

“Without bank capital, it would be very difficult for us fishermen to pool capital to build a ship to go to sea. From one ship at first, our fleet now has five ships; two of them are for fishing and three are for logistics. On average, my fleet catches 400-500 tons of various types of fish each year,” said fisherman Tran Bien.

Currently, in Ly Son district, there are over 540 vessels and boats operating in the field of fishing with main occupations such as diving, purse seine, fishing, and logistics services.

Article and photos: HOA LE

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