Fishing boats… “leaving home”

(Baoquangngai.vn) - The waterways leading to and from the My A, Sa Huynh (Duc Pho town), and Co Luy ( Quang Ngai city) estuaries are frequently silted up, preventing large fishing vessels from entering and leaving the port for anchorage. This forces them to leave their homes and anchor and sell their seafood elsewhere.

SEAPORTS ARE BEING SEDIMENTED, FISHERMEN FACE DIFFICULTIES

My A fishing port is a mooring and trading point for hundreds of fishing boats from Pho Quang ward (Duc Pho town) and neighboring localities. However, due to the lack of dredging since 2012, the channel leading into and out of the port has become severely silted up, preventing large fishing vessels from entering and mooring. Fishing boats wishing to enter or leave the port must wait for high tide.

Fisherman Vo Xuan Cam, from Pho Quang ward (Duc Pho town), said that the channel leading to and from My A port is heavily silted, making it very difficult for boats to enter and exit the port because the water is too shallow. They have to wait for high tide to enter and leave the port, which takes a lot of time.

The Mỹ Á estuary is silting up, making it difficult for ships to enter and exit.

According to local fishermen, many fishing boats have run aground in recent times. In some cases, boats have been sunk by waves, causing significant losses to local fishermen's property. "Entering and exiting the harbor is very difficult; fishermen need experience and must be familiar with the tidal schedule to navigate safely. Even a slight deviation in steering can lead to running aground," said fisherman Nguyen Loi from Pho Quang ward.

According to our investigation, the channel leading to and from My A port used to have a depth of 4m, but now the depth is only below 1.8m. Fishing vessels with a capacity of more than 200CV cannot enter or leave the port to anchor, purchase, or exchange products and must travel to provinces such as Da Nang and Binh Dinh.

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

According to the My A Fishing Port Management Board, from 2020 to the present, due to the silting up of the port's entrance and exit channels and the My A estuary, the number of vessels entering the port has been gradually decreasing. In particular, in the first few months of 2024, offshore fishing vessels hardly entered the port.

With fishing vessels "leaving the port," the logistics services for the fishing industry have been severely affected. Hundreds of port workers are unemployed and have to seek new jobs to stabilize their lives. Ice factories are currently operating at a reduced capacity and are tending to shut down. Many seafood processing units have had to close due to a shortage of raw materials. Some units are flexibly purchasing raw materials elsewhere to maintain employment for their workers, but this incurs significant costs due to high transportation fees.

With no boats returning to port, the My A fishing port has become deserted.

Ms. Huynh Thi Hong, owner of a seafood purchasing facility at My A fishing port, said that previously, her facility purchased about 40-50 tons of seafood per day, but now she only manages to purchase about 5 tons. "The waterways leading into and out of My A fishing port are silted up, significantly affecting fishermen and traders. If this isn't resolved, we'll have to find another place to operate. We hope that relevant authorities will pay attention and address this silting issue," Ms. Hong said.

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

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

"To ensure the safe entry, exit, and anchorage of fishermen's vessels, and to provide shelter from storms, contributing to the development of the local fisheries and marine economy, especially fishing logistics services, the People's Committee of Duc Pho Town has requested the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to study and consider allocating funds for dredging and addressing siltation in the My A boat anchorage area and the My A estuary," said Tran Ngoc Sang, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Duc Pho Town.

SO THAT FISHING BOATS DO NOT HAVE TO "LEAVE THEIR HOMES"

Quang Ngai currently has over 4,200 fishing vessels, of which nearly 3,100 are over 15 meters long, employing approximately 37,000 people directly involved in fishing at sea. Over the years, thanks to the attention of various levels of government and relevant agencies, Quang Ngai province has invested in the construction of two fishing ports (Sa Huynh and Tinh Ky) and three boat mooring ports (Tinh Hoa, Ly Son, and My A).

These projects have brought practical benefits to ship owners and fishermen, creating safe mooring places for fishing vessels to shelter from storms, providing logistics services for the fishing industry, and facilitating the consumption of fishermen's catch both within and outside the province, contributing to the economic development of coastal localities.

However, according to fishermen, the fishing ports and storm shelters that have been completed and put into use still do not meet the needs of boats entering, leaving, and sheltering from storms in the province.

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

Recently, at a thematic meeting between the Quang Ngai Provincial National Assembly Delegation and fishermen in the province, many fishermen reported on the siltation at the Sa Huynh estuary, Pho Thanh ward (Duc Pho town), Lo estuary, Duc Loi commune (Mo Duc district), Co Luy estuary, Nghia An commune (Quang Ngai city), etc. They also requested that relevant authorities allocate funds for dredging.

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

“Currently, Nghia An commune has about 300 large-capacity fishing vessels that have to leave their homes to work far away and anchor at fishing ports in other provinces. To develop the local fisheries industry sustainably, we hope the province will soon allocate funds to dredge and clear the Co Luy estuary channel and promptly implement phase 2 of the project for a storm shelter and anchorage area for fishing vessels combined with the Co Luy fishing port, creating favorable conditions for ships and boats to enter and exit the estuary for fishing,” Mr. Phong suggested.

Many large fishing vessels, after venturing out to sea, do not return to ports within the province to sell their seafood, but instead go to fishing ports in neighboring provinces.

Fishermen hope that the government will pay attention to investing in and upgrading fishing ports and mooring areas in the province to facilitate mooring and selling seafood.

According to statistics, the three fishing boat mooring areas in the province can only accommodate just over 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 the rivers.

At the same time, the infrastructure of fishing ports is still limited, so many large-capacity fishing vessels from Quang Ngai province, after going out to sea, do not return to the province's ports to sell their seafood but instead concentrate at fishing ports in neighboring provinces. As a result, the logistics services at fishing ports in the province have not developed.

Boats are anchored at Ly Son port.

To enhance the effectiveness of fishing ports and storm shelters, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed to the Government and central ministries and agencies to allocate funds to support the province in investing in the construction of new and upgrading existing fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing vessels in Quang Ngai province according to the plan. This will attract fishermen to bring their boats to the province to sell seafood, develop fisheries logistics services, supply raw materials to processing businesses, generate revenue, and create jobs for people in the province.

Text and photos: LINH DAN

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Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/kinh-te/bien-kinh-te-bien/202405/tau-ca-ly-huong-8b920a0/